| 释义 |
ˈhorse-ˈchestnut
[tr. obs. Bot. L. Castanea equina; cf. Ger. Roszkastanie.
The statement in Gerarde as to the origin of the name (quot. 1597) goes back to Matthiolus Comment. i. cxxii. (Venice 1548). See also N. & Q. 3rd Ser. X. 452, 523, Gard. Chron. 1878 II. 53.]
1. The hard smooth shining brown seed or ‘nut’ of the tree described in 2.
1611Cotgr., Chastaigne chevaline, the horse Chestnut. 1698Lond. Gaz. No. 3366/4 A parcel of Horse Chesnuts lately brought from beyond Sea..to be sold by Mr. Edw. Fuller. 1789Wolcott (P. Pindar) Expost. Odes xvi. 24 Wks. (1823) 230/2 On hard horse chesnuts make them dine and sup. 18..Chapter on Logic 40 (Bell's Stand. Elocut., 1883, 471) Down fell A fine horse-chestnut in its prickly shell.
2. A large ornamental tree, æsculus Hippocastanum (N.O. Sapindaceæ), probably a native of Asia, said to have been introduced into England c 1550; it bears large digitate leaves, and upright conical clusters of showy flowers; the fruit resembles the edible chestnut, consisting of a soft thick prickly husk inclosing two or three large seeds of a coarse bitter taste. The name is also extended to some American species of æsculus and the allied genus Pavia, usually called buck-eye.
1597Gerarde Herbal iii. lxxxv. 1254 Called..in English Horse Chestnut; for that the people of the East countries do with the fruit thereof cure their horses of the cough..and such like diseases. 1664Evelyn Sylva vii. §4 The Horse-Chessnut..bears a most glorious flower. 1794Martyn Rousseau's Bot. xix. 255 The form of the Horse-Chesnut is grand, the pyramids of flowers beautiful. 1866Treas. Bot. 853/2 P[avia] rubra, often called Red-flowered Horse⁓chestnut, is a slender-growing tree..from the mountains of Virginia and Carolina. 1884Miller Plant-n., Pavia (æsculus), Buck-eye, Smooth-fruited Horse-Chestnut. |