![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
prettygoodwordmedlar (MED-ler) - n., a small deciduous Eurasian tree (Mespilus germanica or Crataegus germanica) resembling a crab-apple, whose is not edible until the early stages of decay; any of handful of similar trees, including the Japanese medlar or loquat (Eriobotrya japonica) and Mediterranean medlar or azarole (Crataegus azarolus); the fruit of any of these trees.
The common medlar has been cultivated for around 3000 years, and was originally native to a band around the Black Sea from southeastern Europe to Iran. The fruits are hard and acidic until "bletted" to a mushy brown by frost or long-term storage, at which point it's not spoiled but finally ripe. Medlars were an important fruit in southern Europe in medieval times, but starting in the 17th centuries it was superseded by other fruits and is not commonly cultivated today. This name has been used in English since the mid-14th century (before which it was called open-arse), then spelled more like medler, from Old French meslier/medler, from mesle/medle, fruit of the medlar, from Late Latin mespila, from Greek mespilē, a foreign word of unknown origin.
Thanks, WikiMedia!
---L.
The common medlar has been cultivated for around 3000 years, and was originally native to a band around the Black Sea from southeastern Europe to Iran. The fruits are hard and acidic until "bletted" to a mushy brown by frost or long-term storage, at which point it's not spoiled but finally ripe. Medlars were an important fruit in southern Europe in medieval times, but starting in the 17th centuries it was superseded by other fruits and is not commonly cultivated today. This name has been used in English since the mid-14th century (before which it was called open-arse), then spelled more like medler, from Old French meslier/medler, from mesle/medle, fruit of the medlar, from Late Latin mespila, from Greek mespilē, a foreign word of unknown origin.
Thanks, WikiMedia!
---L.
