prickwoodn.
/ˈprɪkwʊd/, U.S. /ˈprɪkˌwʊd/ 1. The European spindle tree, Euonymus europaeus (family Celastraceae), whose dense wood was formerly used for making skewers; the wood of this tree. Cf. prick-timber n. 1, prick tree n. (c). Now rare.
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the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular cultivated or ornamental plants > cultivated or ornamental trees and shrubs > [noun] > spindle-tree(s)
prickwood1516
spindle-tree1548
prick-timber1578
prickle tree1607
prick tree1671
spindle1712
spindlekin1714
euonymus1767
skewer wood1782
gaiter1796
dogwood1838
spindle-trees1846
louse-berry1866
skewer tree1894
1516 J. Skayman Skayman's Book 10 July in Farming & Gardening in Late Medieval Norfolk (Norfolk Rec. Soc.) (1997) 110 He whanttyd byndyns and pryckwoud.
1597 J. Gerard Herball iii. c. 1286 Petrus Crescentius calleth it Fusanum, bicause Spindles be made of the woode heer of; and for that cause it is called..in English, Spindle tree, Prickwoode, and Pricktimber.
1625 W. Finch in S. Purchas Pilgrimes I. iv. iv. 416 Guinny pepper..groweth..wilde, a small Plant like Priuet, or Pricke-wood.
1661 R. Lovell Πανζωορυκτολογια, sive Panzoologicomineralogia 115 They [sc. sheep] are hurt by aconite, nereon, prickwood, savin,..and scortching fennel.
1726 Dict. Rusticum (ed. 3) Prick-wood or Spindle-tree, a sort of Shrub proper to make Hedges.
1785 J. M. Mason Comments Shakespeare's Plays 346 The euonymus of which the best shewers are made, is called prick-wood.
1853 A. Ure Dict. Arts, Manuf., & Mines 962 (table) Prick wood (spindle tree).
1866 J. Lindley & T. Moore Treasury Bot. II. 926/2 Prick-timber, or Prickwood, the wood of Euonymus europæus.
1900 W. Dickinson & E. W. Prevost Gloss. Dial. Cumberland 250/2 Prickwood, spindle tree, Euonymus Europæus... The wood of this tree in many parts of England is made into skewers.
1935 Times 30 Nov. 13/5 Prickwood, another old English name for it [sc. spindle] would have been as appropriate, for no wood takes or retains a point better.
2002 Times (Nexis) 7 Dec. (Features section) 7 One of the finest is our native Euonymus europaeus, which takes its English names—spindle bush, skewerwood and prickwood—from the culinary use to which its branches were put.
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1598 J. Florio Worlde of Wordes Lentisco, a wood called prickwood, or foule rice. Some call it the lentiske or mastike tree.
3. The dogwood, Cornus sanguinea. Cf. prick-timber n. 2, prick tree n. (a). Now English regional (chiefly southern).
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the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > tree or shrub groups > cornus (dogwood and allies) > [noun]
gaiterc1000
dog-tree1548
cornel1551
dogberry1551
prick tree1551
hound's-berry1578
hound's-tree1578
prick-timber tree1578
dwarf honeysuckle1597
dogwood1598
sanguine-rod1601
prickwood1691
bloody twig1759
rose willow1798
red osier1807
swamp dogwood1817
stone-berry?1838
bunch-berry1845
cornus1846
silky cornel1848
silky dogwood1900
pagoda tree1978
1691 J. Ray S. & E. Country Words in Coll. Eng. Words (ed. 2) 99 Gatteridge-tree is Cornus fœmina, or Prickwood, and yet Gatteridge-berries are the Fruit of Euonymus Theophrasti, i.e. Spindle-tree or Louse-berry.
1776 W. Withering Bot. Arrangem. Veg. Great Brit. I. 84 [Cornus] Sanguinea... Female Cornel. Dogberry-tree. Gatter tree. Prick-wood.
1869 Hardwicke's Sci.-gossip 5 30/1 The Dogwood (Cornus sanguinea) means dagge-wood, dagge being the old English equivalent for a dagger, and the wood having been used for skewers... In Buckinghamshire it is still called Prickwood and Skewerwood.
1886 J. Britten & R. Holland Dict. Eng. Plant-names 389 Prickwood... Cornus sanguinea, L.—N. Bucks.; South and East.
1999 Guardian Weekly (Nexis) 10 Nov. (Features section) 18 Another woody plant is the dogwood, or ‘dag’ (skewer) wood, also called prickwood and skiver.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2007; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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