oil-nutn.
/ˈɔɪlnʌt/, U.S. /ˈɔɪlˌnət/ 1. More fully oil-nut tree. Any of various trees or shrubs that produce oil-rich nuts or large seeds; spec. (a) the castor oil plant, Ricinus communis; (b) the butternut, Juglans cinerea; (c) the buffalo-nut, Pyrularia pubera; (d) the oil palm, Elaeis guineensis.
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the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular medicinal plants or parts > [noun] > castor-oil plant or bean
ricinusOE
oil treea1425
Palma Christic1450
man's motherworta1500
tick-seed1562
tick-weed1563
finger orchis1597
kick1597
steadfast1597
palmchrist1611
oil-nut1694
oilseed1760
castor-oil bean1814
castor-bean1819
castor-oil plant1839
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > plant, nut, or bean yielding oil > [noun] > name applied to various plants or nuts
oil-nut1694
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > edible nuts or nut-trees > [noun] > walnut > walnut-tree > types of > butter-nut or white walnut
white walnut1624
butternut1670
oil-nut1694
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > plant, nut, or bean yielding oil > [noun] > trees or shrubs yielding oil > North American > buffalo-nut or tree
buffalo-nut1857
oil-nut1884
1694 Town Rec. Topsfield, Mass. (1917) I. 86/2 From thence on a straight line to an oylenut tree which is Isaac Burtons tree marked.
1707 H. Sloane Voy. Islands I. 126 The Oil-Nut-Tree..seems not to be different from the European Ricinus.
1778 J. Carver Trav. N.-Amer. 500 The Butter or Oilnut... The tree grows in meadows, where the soil is rich and warm.
1813 H. Muhlenberg Catal. Plantarum Americæ Septentrionalis 96 Oil nut, (Pyrularia or Hamiltonia oleifera).
1832 D. J. Browne Sylva Americana 173 In Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont, it [sc. the butternut] bears the name of Oil Nut.
1884 W. Miller Dict. Eng. Names Plants Pyrularia oleifera, Buffalo-nut, Elk-nut, or Oil-nut, of N. America.
1912 E. T. Seton Forester's Man. 41 White Walnut, Oil Nut, or Butternut (Juglans cinerea).
1938 H. J. Quayle Insects of Citrus iii. 175 The food plants [of a scale-insect] include asparagus fern, Chinese oil nut, aleurites, camellia, [etc.].
1968 Amer. Midland Naturalist 79 325 Other species in this area included..buffalonut or oilnut shrubs (Pyrularia pubera).
1994 B. Chevannes Rastafari i. 27 The oil-nut tree is commonly believed to bleed red if its bark is bruised on Good Friday.
2. The nut or large seed of such a plant.
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the world > plants > part of plant > reproductive part(s) > fruit or reproductive product > nut > [noun]
nuteOE
oil-nut1847
nut fruit1850
1847 U.S. Mag. & Democratic Rev. Mar. 285 He looked up, and saw before him a little crooked old woman, in an oil-nut colored woollen frock.
1849 J. G. Whittier Leaves from Margaret Smith's Jrnl. in Prose Wks. (1889) I. 82 We passed many trees, well loaded with walnuts and oilnuts.
1877 Gardeners' Chron. 30 June 8/3 The longer the oil-nuts remain underground the thicker the oil will be when made.
1931 Jrnl. Royal Statist. Soc. 94 327 There were..increases in wet hides, linseed, and oil-nuts, while wood pulp and rubber showed small reductions.
1998 M. Turner Slaves & Missionaries ii. 46 The slaves..sold gums, arrowroot, oilnuts, cowhorns, and goatskins to small merchants who sold them hardware and clothing for exchange.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2004; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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