Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun Any of various chiefly tropical trees of the genus Diospyros, having hard wood and orange-red fruit with sweet usually soft pulp, especially D. kaki, native to East Asia, and D. virginiana, native to the eastern United States.
- noun The fruit of any of these trees.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun One of several species of the genus Dsipyros; primarily, D. Virginiana of North America, the date-plum, a tree common in the South, growing to a height of 60 feet.
- noun The fruit of any of the above-named trees.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Bot.) An American tree (
Diospyros Virginiana ) and its fruit, found from New York southward. The fruit is like a plum in appearance, but is very harsh and astringent until it has been exposed to frost, when it becomes palatable and nutritious. - noun
Diospyros Kaki and its red or yellow edible fruit, which outwardly resembles a tomato, but contains a few large seeds.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A type of
fruit , of orange colour, very sweet, quiteastringent when immature. - noun The
tree this fruit grows on, generally one of two species ofebony : Diospyros kaki (Asian) or Diospyros virginiana (North American).
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun any of several tropical trees of the genus Diospyros
- noun orange fruit resembling a plum; edible when fully ripe
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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The name persimmon supposedly comes from the Algonquin name for 'dry fruit', and the tree the persimmon grows from is part of the ebony family.
Archive 2007-12-01 Annemarie 2007
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The name persimmon supposedly comes from the Algonquin name for 'dry fruit', and the tree the persimmon grows from is part of the ebony family.
Persimmon Chutney Annemarie 2007
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"Thar's some niggers that look so much like possums when they git up in persimmon branches that it takes a sharp eye to tell the difference," observed Tim Mallory.
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Kaki, it turns out, is the Latin word and Japanese name for the fruit that is also called a persimmon or Sharon fruit thank you internet.
Persimmon Chutney Annemarie 2007
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Kaki, it turns out, is the Latin word and Japanese name for the fruit that is also called a persimmon or Sharon fruit thank you internet.
Archive 2007-12-01 Annemarie 2007
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-- The persimmon is a semitropical plum-like fruit, globular in shape and an orange-red or yellow in color.
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The persimmon is the Virginia date plum, a tree of 30 to 50 feet high, and 18 to 20 inches in diameter; it is noted chiefly for its fruit, but it produces a wood of considerable value.
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The persimmon is a delicious fruit, after the frost has destroyed its astringent properties.
A New Guide for Emigrants to the West John Mason Peck 1823
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There are two other species including the American persimmon which is native to the eastern US and the date-plum which is native to southeast Europe/southwest Asia and was called the fruit of the Gods by the Greeks.
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In typical Lela fashion, pops of color such as persimmon, red, pollen (yellow/bright gold), and green made their way into the collection.
treeseed commented on the word persimmon
If you've never had persimmon spice cake, google up one of many recipes and end your suffering and deprivation.
February 3, 2008
travismcdermott commented on the word persimmon
1612 J. SMITH Map of Virginia 12 The fruit like medlers; they call Putchamins, they cast vppon hurdles on a mat, and preserue them as Pruines.
May 8, 2008
bilby commented on the word persimmon
Travis, who's the 'they' in 'they call Putchamins'?
May 8, 2008
asativum commented on the word persimmon
Peruse Wordie and learn to preserue Pruines.
May 8, 2008
kewpid commented on the word persimmon
These are yummy but they make you hot.
May 8, 2008
sionnach commented on the word persimmon
I always thought that 'persimmons' referred to Richard's Swedish cousin, the personal trainer turned Swedish chef. Famed for his 'Per Simmons' diet.
May 8, 2008