quince

/kwɪns/

quince

English Noun Top 27,533

Definition

The pear-shaped fruit of a small tree of the rose family, Cydonia oblonga.

Etymology

From Middle English quynce, coince, a variant of coins, coin (“quince”), from Old French cooing (modern coing), from Late Latin cotōneum, from Latin mālum cotōneum, a variant of mālum Cydonium (“Cydonian apple”), translating Ancient Greek μηλοκυδώνιον (mēlokudṓnion).