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hazel
hazel [OE hæsel]. Both the wood and the edible nuts of this bush or small tree (genus Corylus) have played important roles in Irish and Welsh traditions. Hazel leaves and nuts are found in early British burial mounds and shaft-wells, especially at Ashill, Norfolk. The place-name story for Fordruim, an early name for Tara, describes it as a pleasant hazel wood. In the ogham alphabet of early Ireland, the letter C was represented by hazel [OIr. coll]. It also represented the ninth month on the Old Irish calendar, 6 August to 2 September. Initiate members of the Fianna had to defend themselves armed only with a hazel stick and a shield; yet in the Fenian legends the hazel without leaves was thought evil, dripping poisonous milk, and the home of vultures. Thought a fairy tree in both Ireland and Wales, wood from the hazel was sacred to poets and was thus a taboo fuel on any hearth. Heralds carried hazel wands as badges of office. Witches' wands are often made of hazel, as are divining rods, used to find underground water. In Cornwall the hazel was used in the millpreve, the magical adder stones. In Wales a twig of hazel would be given to a rejected lover.
Even more esteemed than the hazel's wood were its nuts, often described as the ‘nuts of wisdom’, e.g. esoteric or occult knowledge. Hazels of wisdom grew at the heads of the seven chief rivers of Ireland, and nine grew over both Connla's Well and the Well of Segais, the legendary common source of the Boyne and the Shannon. The nuts would fall into the water, causing bubbles of mystic inspiration to form, or were eaten by salmon. The number of spots on a salmon's back were thought to indicate the number of nuts it had consumed. The salmon of wisdom caught by Fionn mac Cumhaill had eaten hazel nuts. The name of the Irish hero Mac Cuill means ‘son of the hazel’. W. B. Yeats thought the hazel was the common Irish form of the tree of life. OIr. and ModIr. coll; ScG calltunn, calltuinn; Manx coull; W collen; Corn. collwedhen; Bret. kraoñklevezenn. |
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JAMES MacKILLOP. "hazel." A Dictionary of Celtic Mythology. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. 10 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. JAMES MacKILLOP. "hazel." A Dictionary of Celtic Mythology. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. (February 10, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O70-hazel.html JAMES MacKILLOP. "hazel." A Dictionary of Celtic Mythology. 2004. Retrieved February 10, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O70-hazel.html |
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hazel
hazel any plant of the genus Corylus of the family Betulaceae ( birch family), shrubs or small trees with foliage similar to the related alders. They are often cultivated for ornament and for the edible nuts. Hazels are also called filberts, although the latter is more strictly a name for European kinds ( C. maxima, C. avellena, and their varieties, e.g., the cobnut) that are cultivated, chiefly in Europe, for the filbert of commerce. Nuts of the American hazel ( C. americana ) are often gathered but seldom sold. Winter hazel and witch hazel are not related to hazel. Hazel is classified in the division Magnoliophyta , class Magnoliopsida, order Fagales, family Betulaceae. |
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"hazel." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. 10 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "hazel." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. (February 10, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-hazel.html "hazel." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2008. Retrieved February 10, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-hazel.html |
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hazel
ha·zel / ˈhāzəl/ • n. 1. a temperate shrub or small tree (genus Corylus) of the birch family, with broad leaves, bearing prominent male catkins in spring and round hard-shelled edible nuts in autumn. 2. a reddish-brown or greenish-brown color, esp. of someone's eyes. ORIGIN: Old English hæsel, related to German Hasel, Latin corylus. |
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"hazel." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. 10 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "hazel." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. (February 10, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-hazel.html "hazel." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Retrieved February 10, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-hazel.html |
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hazel
hazel small nut-tree, Corylus OE.; reddish-brown colour of the ripe hazel-nut XVI. OE. hæsel, corr. to MDu. hasel (Du. hazelaar hazel tree), OHG. hasal(a) (G. hasel), ON. hasl :- Gmc. *χasalaz :- IE. *kosolos, *koselos, whence also L. corylus, -ulus.
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T. F. HOAD. "hazel." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 10 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. T. F. HOAD. "hazel." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (February 10, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-hazel.html T. F. HOAD. "hazel." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Retrieved February 10, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-hazel.html |
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hazel
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"hazel." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. 10 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "hazel." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. (February 10, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O142-hazel.html "hazel." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Retrieved February 10, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O142-hazel.html |
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Hazel
Hazel ♀ From the vocabulary word denoting the tree (Old English hæsel), or its light reddish-brown nuts. This is one of the most successful of the names coined in the 19th century from words denoting plants.
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PATRICK HANKS, KATE HARDCASTLE, and FLAVIA HODGES. "Hazel." A Dictionary of First Names. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. 10 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. PATRICK HANKS, KATE HARDCASTLE, and FLAVIA HODGES. "Hazel." A Dictionary of First Names. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. (February 10, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O41-Hazel.html PATRICK HANKS, KATE HARDCASTLE, and FLAVIA HODGES. "Hazel." A Dictionary of First Names. 2006. Retrieved February 10, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O41-Hazel.html |
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hazel
hazel See CORYLUS.
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MICHAEL ALLABY. "hazel." A Dictionary of Plant Sciences. 1998. Encyclopedia.com. 10 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. MICHAEL ALLABY. "hazel." A Dictionary of Plant Sciences. 1998. Encyclopedia.com. (February 10, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O7-hazel.html MICHAEL ALLABY. "hazel." A Dictionary of Plant Sciences. 1998. Retrieved February 10, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O7-hazel.html |
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hazel
hazel
•basil, bedazzle, dazzle, frazzle, razzle
•damsel • razzle-dazzle • Basel
•bezel, embezzle
•Denzil
•appraisal, hazel, nasal, phrasal
•wych hazel
•diesel, easel, teasel, weasel
•chisel, drizzle, fizzle, frizzle, grizzle, mizzle, pizzle, sizzle, swizzle, twizzle
•reprisal, revisal
•nozzle, shemozzle
•acausal, causal, clausal, menopausal, monocausal
•arousal, carousal, espousal, spousal, tousle
•disposal, proposal
•accusal, bamboozle, foozle, ouzel, perusal, refusal
•guzzle, muzzle, nuzzle, puzzle
•mangel-wurzel
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"hazel." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. 10 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "hazel." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. (February 10, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-hazel.html "hazel." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Retrieved February 10, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-hazel.html |
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