prune English · revision 1018

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /pɹuːn/ ''(UK)''; /pɹun/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The fruit word is [[inh|enm|prune]], [[bor|fro|prune|t=plum]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate) [[der|la-vul|*prūna]], taken as singular from the plural of [[la|prūnum|t=plum]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(RHWU) a borrowing of Greek ''proûmnon'', probably from a language of Asia Minor.^(Etymonline)^(RHWU) The verb is [[inh|enm|proinen]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) [[bor|fro|proignier|t=to cut back (vines)]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate) which may come from [[la-vul|*prōretundiāre|t=to round off in front]], from [[la|rotundus|t=round]].^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The dried fruit of the plum (1345–46).^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The Middle English verb first meant, of a bird, to trim the feathers with the beak, and of a person, to dress up carefully (late 14th century), senses kept by its variant [[preen]].^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1995) The sense “to cut off what is superfluous” is recorded from the early 15th century,^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) and the gardening sense “to lop branches from a tree” from 1547.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1995) The noun ''prune'' was slang for a disagreeable or stupid person from 1895.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1345–46 – a dried plum.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1390 – verb, of a bird, to trim the feathers.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1426 – verb, to cut down by removing superfluities.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1547 – verb, to lop branches from a tree.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1895 – a disagreeable or stupid person.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The partially dried fruit of certain kinds of [[plum]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A plum that can be dried without spoiling.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)

+ # ''(slang)'' A disagreeable, stupid or incompetent person.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To cut off dead or unwanted branches or parts of (a plant) to improve its shape or growth.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To remove as superfluous; to reduce, as in ''prune the budget''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(archaic)'' To [[preen]].^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[pruner]]

+ * [[prunable]]

+ * [[unpruned]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[plum]]

+ * [[preen]]

+ * [[rotund]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}