wintergreenn.
/ˈwɪntəɡriːn/, U.S. /ˈwɪn(t)ərˌɡrin/ 1. Any of various small herbaceous perennials with evergreen leaves.
a. Any plant of the former family Pyrolaceae (now a subfamily of Ericaceae), of northern Eurasia and North America, having an erect stem bearing drooping flowers; esp. the widespread Pyrola minor (more fully common wintergreen), and the American Chimaphila maculata (more fully spotted wintergreen).
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the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > according to family > Ericaceae (wintergreen and allies) > [noun]
wintergreen1525
pyrola1527
limonium1548
rheumatism weed1785
pipsissewa1793
prince's pine1807
king-cure1817
shin-leaf1845
wood-lily1884
1525 tr. H. von Brunschwig Noble Experyence Vertuous Handy Warke Surg. sig. S.ii Take..wynter grene [Ger. winter grün] or pirola in latin.
1548 W. Turner Names of Herbes sig. E.iv Limonium named of the Herbaries Pyrola, is named in duch wintergrowen... It maye be called in englishe wyntergrene.
1640 J. Parkinson Theatrum Botanicum 508 Pyrola nostra vulgaris. Our ordinary Winter greene... Pyrola tenerior. Slender Winter greene.
1771 J. R. Forster Flora Amer. Septentrionalis 20 Pyrola rotundifolia. Winter-green, round-leaved. Virginia.
1814 F. Pursh Flora Amer. Septentrionalis I. 300 Chimaphila maculata... C. corymbosa... Both species are handsome evergreens, and known by the name of Winter-green.
1861 S. Thomson Wanderings among Wild Flowers (rev. ed.) iii. 222 The Pyrolas, or winter-greens.
1871 H. Macmillan True Vine vii. 273 The winter-green and the palmy shield-fern creep into the solitude of the pine wood.
1924 W. H. Fitch et al. Illustr. Brit. Flora (ed. 5) 162 Pyrola minor L. Common wintergreen.
1974 W. Condry Woodlands xi. 115 There are four other wintergreens with..beautiful flowers, all to be found here and there in the pine forest. They are the greater, the round-leaved, the common and the serrated wintergreens.
2013 B. MacKay Year Across Maryland 9 Spotted Wintergreen is easily identified by its dark green, leathery leaves variegated with white.
b. More fully chickweed wintergreen. Any of the plants of the genus Trientalis (family Primulaceae), of boreal regions in Eurasia and North America, with solitary starlike flowers (also called starflower); esp. T. europaea of woodland in Eurasia.
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the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular cultivated or ornamental plants > particular flower or plant esteemed for flower > [noun] > primrose and allied flowers > allied flowers
bear's ear sanicle1597
French cowslip1597
mountain bindweed1597
blue moonwort1629
soldanella1629
chickweed wintergreen1640
primrose1688
Meadia1744
American cowslip1866
wood pimpernel1866
soldanelle1886
1640 J. Parkinson Theatrum Botanicum v. xviii. 510 (heading) Pyrola Europæa Alfines flore. The Winter greene of Europe with Chickeweede flowers.
1789 W. Aiton Hortus Kewensis I. 493 Common Trientalis, or Chickweed Winter-green.
1840 R. Bremner Excursions Denmark I. 370 The Wintergreen (Trientalis Europæa), the loveliest of all the flowers of the northern flora.
a1933 J. A. Thomson Biol. for Everyman (1934) II. 1246 In the heather heaths..the ground flora includes hair-grass, cow-wheat, hard-fern, chickweed wintergreen, and Goodyera.
2013 Yorks. Post (Nexis) 1 May But a warming climate is likely to see some species such as cloudberry, chickweed wintergreen and globeflower die out in Yorkshire.
c. flowering wintergreen n. North American (rare) the fringed milkwort, Polygala paucifolia (family Polygalaceae), of North America (also called gaywings).
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the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > according to family > Polygalaceae (milkwort and allies) > [noun]
milkwort1578
polygala1578
Cross-flower1597
gang flower1597
rogation flower1597
procession flower1633
rattlesnake root1682
senega1738
rattlesnake-wort1763
flowering wintergreen1818
mountain flax1824
shepherd's thyme1857
love1874
1818 A. Eaton Man. Bot. (ed. 2) 368 Polygala..paucifolia (flowering wintergreen..).
1998 Portland (Maine) Press Herald (Nexis) 31 May 4 c Gaywings, the species commonly is called, or flowering wintergreen, after the wide evergreen leaves.
2. As two words or hyphenated. An evergreen tree or shrub. Also figurative. Cf. evergreen n. 1. Now rare.Quot. 1665 may possibly illustrate sense 3.
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the world > plants > by age or cycles > [noun] > evergreen plant
evergreen1658
wintergreen1665
sempervirent1957
1665 J. Rea Flora iii. viii. 223 The best sorts of Peaches, Nectorines, and other fine Fruits, Flowering Shrubs, and Winter Greens, may be had of Mr. George Rickets of Hogsden.
1681 C. Cotton Wonders of Peake 83 For Winter-Greens the Yew, Holly, and Box.
1707 J. Mortimer Whole Art Husbandry 383 The best time for the removing of all Trees, except Winter Greens..is either in October or February.
1729 R. Savage Wanderer i. 196 Thick on this Top o'ergrown for Walks are seen Grey, leafless Wood, and winter Greens between!
1823 H. Phillips Sylva Florifera II. 34 Nothing in point of colour can..be more desirable than the laurel to relieve the sameness which would otherwise too often predominate in our winter greens.
1850 N. Hawthorne Scarlet Let. Introd. 18 This Inspector..was..one of the most wonderful specimens of winter-green that you would be likely to discover in a lifetime's search.
2003 Times (Nexis) 29 Nov. 36 Rosemary and periwinkle apart, Bacon's recommended winter greens were..a stolid lot—holly, ivy, juniper, bay, cypress and pines.
3. In plural. As two words or hyphenated. Greens (see green n.1 6) for consumption or use in winter.
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the world > plants > wild and cultivated plants > food plant or vegetable > [noun] > collectively
garden stuff1599
kitchen-tillage1669
wintergreensa1691
greens1710
kitchen stuffc1710
green ware1736
green stuff1778
the world > food and drink > food > fruit and vegetables > vegetables > [noun] > green vegetables
green meatc1450
wintergreensa1691
greens1710
green ware1736
green stuff1778
grass1867
a1691 R. Boyle Gen. Heads Nat. Hist. Country, Great or Small (1692) 57 The Places from whence the best of the Vegetables that are either Winter-Greens, or fit for the Kitchen-Garden, may be had, and the Marks of their Goodness.
1769 E. Taylor Lady's, Housewife's, & Cookmaid's Assistant 248 Take winter-greens or ledingtons, split them, and take out the core.
1832 J. Baxter Libr. Agric. & Hort. Knowl. (ed. 2) 95 Winter greens comprise those varieties of the Brassica tribe, which authors are in the habit of describing as Coleworts, Borecole, Savoys, Scotch Kale, Sprouts, &c.
1887 T. Hardy Woodlanders I. iv. 51 Rabbits that had been eating the winter-greens in the gardens.
1914 Market Growers Jrnl. 1 Sept. 19/1 What we like most for winter greens is Siberian Curled Kale.
1990 Gardener Nov. 62/3 Draw soil up around the stems of spring cabbage for extra protection, also other winter greens if the land is heavy and poorly drained.
2013 M. Stuckey Soup Night ii. 28 The many wonderful winter greens like Russian or Tuscan kale, mustard greens, or mizuna.
4. The low shrub Gaultheria procumbens (family Ericaceae), of eastern North America, which has oval evergreen leaves, drooping white flowers, and red fruits, and was the original source of oil of wintergreen; also called checkerberry.
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the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular medicinal plants or parts > medicinal trees or shrubs > [noun] > non-British medicinal trees or shrubs > wintergreen shrubs
wintergreen1778
mountain tea1785
spice-berry1792
partridgeberry1814
tea-berry1818
ivory plum1828
twinberry1836
ivy-berry1840
partridge bush1843
Gaultheria1848
checker-berry1852
partridge-vine1860
snowberry1866
one-berry1873
1778 J. Carver Trav. N.-Amer. xix. 509 Winter Green..is an ever-green..found on dry heaths;..in the winter it is full of red berries about the size of a sloe.
1836 W. C. Bryant Poems (ed. 3) 68 Where cornels arch their cool dark boughs o'er beds of wintergreen.
1880 Harper's Mag. Nov. 864/1 Here are soft beds of rich green moss studded with scarlet berries of wintergreen and partridge vine.
1921 F. S. Mathews Field Bk. Wild Birds & their Music (rev. ed.) 9 Partridge berries, wintergreen (Gaultheria procumbens), tree buds, and a host of things common in the winter woods make up his diversified menu.
1962 E. Gibbons Stalking Wild Asparagus (1970) 34 Commercial wintergreen flavoring is not made from the wintergreen plant (Gaultheria).
2014 BBC Gardeners' World (Special Subscriber ed.) Nov. 44/2 Wintergreen (Gaultheria procumbens) is a naturally festive-looking, neat, low-spreading evergreen with large red berries and reddish-tinged leaves in winter.
5.
a. oil of wintergreen A volatile essential oil originally obtained from the leaves of wintergreen ( Gaultheria procumbens) and the bark of sweet birch ( Betula lenta) and now commercially synthesized, consisting chiefly of methyl salicylate and having a flavour thought to resemble that of mint. Also wintergreen oil. Cf. gaultheria oil at Gaultheria n.Oil of wintergreen is used to flavour confectionery and dental hygiene products, and as a constituent of liniments used for muscle and joint pain.
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the world > food and drink > food > additive > other flavourings > [noun]
saffronc1200
rorraa1500
fetida1588
balachong1699
gammon essence1706
ratafia1727
silphium1753
peppermint1811
Honduras sarsaparilla1818
oil of wintergreen1827
wintergreen oil1827
peppermint oil1850
apple oil1852
almond extract1865
duxelles1877
celery salt1897
gianduja1902
onion salt1925
garlic saltc1938
banoffi1994
the world > health and disease > healing > medicines or physic > medical preparations of specific origin > medicine composed of a plant > [noun] > oils and oily preparations
oil of rosesa1398
oil (of) hypericon1471
oil of philosophers1547
almond oil1560
oil of tile1634
brick oil1656
rosat1674
philosophical oil1750
oleosaccharum1757
oil of wintergreen1827
wintergreen oil1843
pinhoen oil1846
gaultheria oil1848
carap oilc1865
pulza oil1866
niaouli1993
1827 Jrnl. Philadelphia Coll. Pharmacy 1 125 The odour of the oil of wintergreen is also very perceptible.
1843 Daily National Intelligencer (Washington) 19 May M. Cahours made a communication respecting an oil used in perfumery, called Winter-green oil.
1866 W. Odling Lect. Animal Chem. 87 Wood-spirit..occurs in nature as a constituent residue of the essential oil of wintergreen.
1902 Pharm. Rev. 20 354 The penetrating odor characteristic of the wintergreen oil which distinguishes it from artificial methyl salicylate.
1977 R. B. Tisserand Art of Aromatherapy xi. 178 If you took 15cc of wintergreen oil, it would probably kill you.
1982 B. MacLaverty Time to Dance (1985) 78 For one whole winter when he had a bad shoulder he had to stay up late to rub him with oil of wintergreen.
2007 Science 5 Oct. 31/1 Methyl salicylate, the pungent oil of wintergreen,..turns out to be a long-sought distress call that rouses plant resistance against disease.
b. = oil of wintergreen at sense 5a.
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society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > extracted or refined oil > [noun] > other plant-derived oils
oil de baya1398
oil roseta1400
alkitranc1400
laurinec1400
oil of spicac1400
seed oil1400
rape oil1420
nut-oil?c1425
masticine?1440
oil de rose?1440
oil of myrtine?a1450
gingellya1544
rose oil1552
alchitrean1562
oil of spike1577
oil of ben1594
myrtle oil1601
sesamus1601
sampsuchine1616
oil of walnuts1622
rape1641
oil of rhodium1649
rapeseed oil1652
neroli1676
oil of mace1681
spirit of scurvy-grass1682
beech-oil1716
poppy oil1737
castor oil1746
oil of sassafras1753
orange-peel oil1757
wood-oil1759
bergamot1766
sunflower oil1768
Russia oil1773
oil castor1779
tung-yu1788
poppy-seed oil1799
cocoa butter1801
sassafras oil1801
phulwara1805
oil of wine1807
grass oil1827
oil of marjoram1829
cajuput oil1832
essence of mustarda1834
picamar1835
spurge oil1836
oenanthic ether1837
tea oil1837
capnomor1838
cinnamon-oil1838
oil of mustard1838
orange-flower oil1838
resinein1841
mustard oil1844
myrrhol1845
styrol1845
oenanthol1847
shea butter1847
wintergreen1847
gaultheria oil1848
ginger-grass oil.1849
nutmeg oil1849
pine oil1849
peppermint oil1850
cocoa fat1851
orange oil1853
neem oil1856
poonga oil1857
xanthoxylene1857
crab-oil1858
illupi oil1858
Shanghai oil1861
stand oil1862
mustard-seed oil1863
carap oilc1865
cocum butter or oilc1865
Kurung oil1866
muduga oil1866
pichurim oil1866
serpolet1866
sumbul oil1868
sesame oil1870
niger oil1872
summer yellow1872
olibene1873
patchouli oil1875
pilocarpene1876
styrolene1881
tung oil1881
becuiba tallow1884
soy oil1884
tea-seed oil1884
eucalyptus1885
sage oil1888
hop-oil1889
cotton-seed oil1891
lemon oil1896
palmarosa oil1897
illipe butter1904
hydnocarpus oil1905
tung1911
niger seed oil1917
sun oil1937
vanaspati1949
fennel oil-
1847 Sci. Amer. 6 Nov. 56/1 Take 20 drops of the spruce, 20 drops wintergreen, 20 drops sassafras. Pour two quarts of boiling water, upon the oils.
1941 S. Cornberg & E. L. Gebaur Stage Crew Handbk. iii. 109 Your last job before leaving the shop at night is to add wintergreen or creosote to any unused paint to which glue has been added.
1977 J. F. Fixx Compl. Bk. Running xviii. 209 The gym is noisy and smells of wintergreen.
2005 C. Higley & A. Higley Quick Ref. Guide Essent. Oils (ed. 9) 183 Lightly massage with Roman chamomile or lavender, and birch/wintergreen.
Compounds
General attributive (in sense 5, chiefly with reference to the flavour or odour of oil of wintergreen).
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1825 Adams Centinel (Gettysburg, Pa.) 22 June The proprietors of the establishment keep constantly on hand large quantities of cherry rum, raspberry brandy, wintergreen cordial, and other like pleasant liquors.
1873 Amer. Cycl. I. 420/1 It makes a good dark heavy claret, if the grapes are well ripened, with rather a pleasant wintergreen flavor.
1971 E. L. Doctorow Bk. of Daniel ii. 104 A medicinal pungency emanated from him like the taste of a wintergreen Lifesaver.
1984 Time 5 Nov. 94/1 In one bravura touch, he sprayed the air with wintergreen room freshener.
2011 J. Lewis Into Dust 195 His breath smelled of wintergreen gum.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2017; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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