quince English · revision 1161

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /kwɪns/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It comes from Middle English ''quynce'', originally the plural of ''quyn'', ''coyn'',^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) [[der|fro|cooin]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(RHWU) [[der|la|cotoneum|t=quince]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) probably a variant of ''cydōnium'',^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate) [[der|grc|κυδώνιον|tr=kudṓnion|t=quince]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) traditionally “apple of Kydonia”, an ancient city in Crete.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)^(RHWU) Beekes, cited by Etymonline, takes the Greek word from an older Anatolian word and the link with Kydonia as folk etymology;^(Etymonline) ''kodu-'' was the Lydian name for the fruit.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The fruit, and the tree in ''quince tre'' (before 1325).^(Barnhart 1995)^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The plural ''quynce'' came to be construed as a singular.^(Etymonline)^(RHWU) Italian ''cotogno'' and German ''Quitte'' come from the same Greek word.^(Etymonline) In Australian slang ''to get on someone's quince'' means to irritate them (1941).^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * early 14th century – ''quoyn'', ''coin''.^(Etymonline)

+ * before 1325 – ''quince tre''.^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * about 1350 – ''coyns'', quinces.^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1941 – ''get on one's quince'' (Australian slang).^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The hard, fragrant, yellow, pear-shaped fruit of a small Asian tree of the [[rose]] family, used in preserves and jelly.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # The tree (''Cydonia oblonga'') that bears this fruit.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[Bengal quince]]

+ * [[Japanese quince]]

+ * [[flowering quince]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[marmalade]]

+ * [[Cydonia]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}