nutmeg

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. An evergreen tree (Myristica fragrans) native to the East Indies and cultivated for its spicy seeds.
2. n. The hard, aromatic seed of this tree, used as a spice when grated or ground.
3. n. A grayish to moderate brown.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. The kernel of the fruit of the nutmeg-tree, Myristica fragrans (M. moschata); also, the similar product of other trees of this genus. See Myristica. The fruit, with some resemblance to a peach, has a fleshy edible exterior, which splits in two, releasing the seed, enveloped in a fibrous network (false aril: see arillode) which is preserved as mace. (See mace.) The seed is thoroughly dried, the shell then cracked, and the olive-shaped kernel, about an inch in length, commonly treated with lime for preservation, becomes the nutmeg of commerce. Its principal use is that of an aromatic condiment, especially to flavor milky and farinaceous preparations. (For medical use, see Myristica.) Its virtues depend upon an essential oil, called nutmeg-oil. it yields also a concrete oil called nutmeg-butter. The nutmeg supply is chiefly, but not exclusively, from the Banda Islands, where it was formerly a monopoly of the Dutch. Penang nutmegs have been especially famous. The long, male, or wild nutmeg, a longer kernel, is an inferior sort occurring in trade, the product of M. fatua and M. tomentosa, the long sometimes referred to the former, the male to the latter.
2. n. Any tree of the genus Myristica. The Santa Fé nutmeg is M. Otoba of the United States of Colombia, yielding an edible article. The tallow-nutmeg is M. sebifera of tropical south America, whose seeds yield a concrete oil suitable for making hard soap and candles, sometimes called American nutmeg-oil. See ocuba-wax and poondy-oil.
3. n. One of various trees of other genera. See below.

Wiktionary

1. n. an evergreen tree, Myristica fragrans, cultivated in the East Indies for its spicy seeds
2. n. the aromatic seed of this tree, used as a spice
3. n. a grey-brown colour
4. n. The playing of the ball between the legs of an opponent
5. v. to flavour with nutmeg
6. v. to play the ball between the legs of (an opponent)

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. The kernel of the fruit of the nutmeg tree (Myristica fragrans), a native of the Molucca Islands, but cultivated elsewhere in the tropics.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. hard aromatic seed of the nutmeg tree used as spice when grated or ground
2. n. East Indian tree widely cultivated in the tropics for its aromatic seed; source of two spices: nutmeg and mace