persimmonn.adj.
/pəːˈsɪmən/, U.S. /pərˈsɪm(ə)n/ A. n.
1. The edible plumlike fruit of the North American tree Diospyros virginiana (the persimmon tree: see sense A. 2a), a large yellow or orange berry which is usually very astringent even when ripe but becomes sweet when softened by frost and almost rotten. Also: the similar but larger fruit of the Japanese tree D. kaki, which is much eaten in China and Japan and increasingly elsewhere.The Sharon fruit is a form of the Japanese persimmon which can be eaten at a much earlier stage.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > fruit and vegetables > fruit or a fruit > stone fruit > [noun] > persimmon
persimmon1612
date plum1688
kaki1727
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > particular types of fruit > [noun] > stone fruit > persimmon
persimmon1612
date plum1688
kaki1727
lotus1760
Sharon fruit1977
1612 J. Smith Map of Virginia 12 The fruit like medlers; they call Putchamins, they cast vppon hurdles on a mat, and preserue them as Pruines.
c1612 W. Strachey Hist. Trav. Virginia (1953) i. x. 120 They haue a Plomb which they call Pessemmins like to a Meddeler in England, but of a deepe tawny cullour.
1629 J. Parkinson Paradisi in Sole III. x. 570 The third [Lotus] is called in Virginia Pishamin. The Virginia Plumme.
1670 D. Denton Brief Descr. N.-Y. 4 The Fruits natural to the Island, are Mulberries, Posimons,..Huckelberries.
1714 Philos. Trans. 1713 (Royal Soc.) 28 217 Virginia Pishamin, Ray 1918.
1731 M. Catesby Nat. Hist. Carolina I. p. x/1 Phishimons, Whorts, and some other Fruit.
1785 J. Belknap Let. 18 Nov. in W. P. Cutler & J. P. Cutler Life, Jrnls. & Corr. M. Cutler (1888) II. 235 I inclose you the seeds of the Persimmon, a fruit natural to Pennsylvania.
1859 All Year Round 30 Apr. 17 The [Chinese] persiman is like a large egg-plum, but containing half a dozen stones.
1887 Cent. Mag. Oct. 859/2 Away! Away!..to where the purple and golden persimmons hang low from the boughs.
1909 Daily Chron. 15 June 4/6 A glory of foreign markets is the persimmon, which first hailed from Japan, and which suggests the tomato in appearance, and something betwixt a plum and a pear in flavour.
1948 Democrat 23 Sept. 4/3 In latitudes further north the persimmon usually awaits the first frost to become edible.
2000 R. Hosking At Japanese Table ii. 13 Fresh persimmons are eaten while they are still very firm, like apples.
2.
a. The tree Diospyros virginiana (family Ebenaceae) of the southern United States, which produces the persimmon fruit (more fully American persimmon). Also (more fully Japanese persimmon): the related tree D. kaki, a native of China and Japan which is increasingly grown elsewhere for its fruit; also called kaki.Mexican persimmon: see Mexican persimmon n. at Mexican n. and adj. Compounds 1b.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > particular fruit-tree or -plant > [noun] > trees or plants bearing stone fruit > persimmon-tree
persimmon1626
persimmon tree1649
Mexican persimmon1846
Sharon fruit1977
1626 in Amer. Speech 15 294/2 Extending Southerly..towards the pursimond ponds.
1635 Relation of Maryland 18 Also there are divers sorts of Fruit-trees, as Mulberries, Persimmons, with severall other kinds of Plums.
1709 J. Lawson New Voy. Carolina 102 Persimmon is a Tree, that agrees with all Lands and Soils.
1788 Chambers's Cycl. (new ed.) Plum, Indian date, pishamin, persimon, or pitchumon, diospyros,..a genus of the polygamia dioecia class.
1834 G. Bancroft Hist. U.S. I. ii. 58 The Indians..brought..loaves, made of the fruit of the persimmon.
1882 Garden 7 Jan. 1/2 There are..fruiting Japan Persimmons, American Persimmons.
1936 W. Faulkner Absalom, Absalom! vi. 214 The old street of the slave quarters—a jungle of sumach and persimmon.
1969 S. G. Harrison et al. Oxf. Bk. Food Plants 104/2 This species [Diospyros virginiana] is often used in America as a rootstock on which to graft the Japanese persimmon.
2001 J. Robinson Voices of Queensland ii. 41 The tree Diospyros digyna, a tropical relative of the persimmon.
b. The hard wood of a persimmon tree, esp. Diospyros virginiana, formerly used for making golf-club heads and loom shuttles.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > wood > wood of specific trees > [noun] > wood of fruit trees > others
service tree1545
cornel-wood1600
manchineel1683
bois d'arc1805
apple1815
crab-wood1849
peach wood1850
plum1902
persimmon1989
1989 Scots Mag. Mar. 576 (advt.) The woods are now mainly laminated layers of maple..where before they were solid blocks of persimmon.
2002 Wood Carving Illustr. Summer 75/1 (caption) Persimmon has a grain that is often mistaken for plywood.
3. The colour of persimmon fruit or wood; reddish orange; reddish brown.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > colour > named colours > red or redness > [noun] > shades of red > orange red
orange-red1601
nacarat1684
flame1711
iron-reda1728
morning-red1805
orange-scarlet1824
orange-crimson1859
rouge de fer1872
flame-red1906
pimento red1921
persimmon1930
paprika1934
1930 A. Maerz & M. R. Paul Dict. Color Index Persimmon.
1977 Time 27 June 50/1 The thickly painted figures with features eroded by light, the sharp eupeptic color—emerald, persimmon, rust, ultramarine.
1993 Dance Internat. Summer 39/1 The door and window frames are painted colours like persimmon and cobalt, lemon and magenta.
B. adj.
Of the colour of persimmon fruit or wood; reddish orange; reddish brown.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > colour > named colours > brown or brownness > [adjective] > reddish brown
russet1428
reddish-brown1530
sorrel1534
berry-brown1575
sored1587
russetish1600
Chelidonian1601
weaselled-coloured1607
deer-coloured1611
spadiceous1646
russeted1654
testaceous1688
russety1697
mahoganya1744
red-brown1786
reddy-brown1845
fusco-testaceous1847
mahogany-brown1881
persimmon1897
1897 Cent. Mag. Dec. 285/1 The whole family of dull grayish pink or old rose, known as shibu (persimmon-juice) or kake (persimmon) color, are lately classed as Danjiro colors.
1947 House & Garden Sept. 89/1 Brighten a dining foyer with a floor of Persimmon plastic tiles, paint its walls Avocado Green, its ceiling white.
1975 Vogue Dec. 103 Persimmon lipstick.
1982 S. Conran Lace vii. xxxvii. 387 She sat demurely in a persimmon brocade armchair.
2001 D. Mitchell Number 9 Dream 112 Persimmon golds, cathode indigos, ladybird scarlets, tundra olives.
Phrases
Categories »
P1. Chiefly U.S. colloquial and regional. to be a huckleberry to (also over) someone's persimmon: see huckleberry n. 4.
P2. to pass one's persimmon: to be beyond one's comprehension or understanding. Also to be a jump above one's tallest persimmons.
ΚΠ
1839 T. De Quincey 2nd Paper on Murder in Blackwood's Mag. Nov. 664/2 Why, or with what view, it passes my persimmon to tell you.
1845 Knickerbocker 25 425 Wall now, that are's a jump above my tallest persimmons.
1945 H. Miller All Our Lives i. 30 It passes my persimmon to tell how some good men have the hardihood to stay in the same position for twenty-five years.
1995 Washingtonian (Nexis) Nov. 165 To be a jump above someone's tallest persimmons means to be beyond someone's understanding.
P3. to shake down (also bring down, rake (up), walk off with) the persimmon(s): to win the prize, to pocket the winnings. Now rare.
ΚΠ
1841 Spirit of Times 18 Dec. 499 They had not forgotten that the game little mare had put Sarah up to 7:45–7:40, in March last, and it seemed as if it was now their turn to ‘shake down the persimmons’.
1857 Call (San Francisco) 3 Apr. 4/2 He will deal himself four aces and his opponent four queens, so that your honor will perceive he must ‘rake the persimmons’.
1888 Walla Walla (Washington) Union 20 Oct. 3/2 The elevator company walked off with the persimmon.
1889 J. S. Farmer Americanisms (at cited word) ‘To rake up the persimmons.’—To pocket the stakes or spoils.
1995 Washingtonian (Nexis) Nov. 165 To rake up (or walk off) with the persimmons means to pocket the winnings.
P4. the longest pole knocks the persimmon (and variants): the best-placed or most able contender wins.
ΚΠ
1844 Buckeye Eagle 28 Aug. 2/2 in H. Sperber & T. Trittschuh Amer. Polit. Terms (1962) 313/2 David Tod should go there and repeat that original remark of his about the longest pole knocking down the persimmons.
1861 in W. H. Russell My Diary North & South (1863) II. iii. 62 Let both parties meet where there will be no interruption at the scalping business, and the longest pole will knock the persimmon.
1896 Daily News 5 June 5/3 There is..in the Southern States, a proverb..‘The longest pole knocks the persimmon’, i.e. success falls to him who has the most advantages.
1900 F. P. Dunne Mr. Dooley's Philos. 68 ‘I'll jus' move me music back a mile,’ he says, ‘an' peg away, an' th' longest gun takes th' persimmons,’ he says.
1948 E. N. Dick Dixie Frontier 314 The tallest pole takes the persimmon.
2000 Sun Herald (Biloxi, Mississippi) (Nexis) 3 Dec. a1 That was considered a general election, not a primary, so the rule was, the long pole gets the persimmon, no runoff.
P5. that's (the ripe) persimmon: that's fine, that's ideal.
ΚΠ
1902 J. S. Farmer & W. E. Henley Slang V. 175/1 That's persimmon (or all persimmon) = ‘That's fine’.
1946 California Folklore Q. July 240 That's the ripe persimmon. That is just right, or taken at the best moment.
P6. it's no use taking four bites at a persimmon: a good opportunity must be seized promptly. rare.
ΚΠ
1903 C. J. C. Hyne McTodd 40 No use taking four bites at a persimmon.
Compounds
C1. Chiefly U.S.† persimmon plum n. Obsolete
persimmon beer n.
ΚΠ
1737 J. Brickell Nat. Hist. N.-Carolina 38 The following are made in the Country, viz. Cyder, Persimon-Beer, made of the Fruit of that Tree, [etc.].
a1941 P. B. Barringer Nat. Bent (1949) xxvi. 189 In the early seventies alcohol was everywhere in the South, and cut glass decanters stood on every sideboard... Beer was just coming, unless we except ‘persimmon beer’ and ‘locust beer’ made on every plantation and in many village homes.
2001 Capital (Annapolis, Maryland) (Nexis) 22 Nov. c1 They washed it down with Madeira, Jamaica rum punch and persimmon beer.
persimmon bush n.
ΚΠ
1786 G. Washington Diary 8 Aug. (1925) III. 102 A parcel of small Persimon bushes.
c1845 W. T. Porter Big Bear Akansas 132 They circled about among the switch-cane and priscimmon bushes a long time.
2002 San Antonio (Texas) Express (Nexis) 18 Oct. 11 c Acorns were everywhere, as were wild persimmon bushes and mesquite trees.
persimmon-coloured adj.
ΚΠ
1931 Times 16 Sept. 15/3 They wore dresses of persimmon-coloured chiffon.
2002 Washington Times 6 June m4 She is also overseeing the idea of adding persimmon-colored leather chairs to the mix.
ΚΠ
1629 J. Parkinson Paradisi in Sole iii. xiii. 578 The Pishamin or Virginia plum is called a plum, but vtterly differeth from all sorts of plums.
1760 J. Lee Introd. Bot. App. 322–3 Persimon Plum,..Pishamin Plum, Diospyros.
persimmon pond n.
ΚΠ
1626 [see sense A. 2a].
1940 Amer. Speech 15 294/2 Persimmon pond, piece of low, wet ground, often covered with shallow water, in which persimmon trees grow.
persimmon tree n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > particular fruit-tree or -plant > [noun] > trees or plants bearing stone fruit > persimmon-tree
persimmon1626
persimmon tree1649
Mexican persimmon1846
Sharon fruit1977
1649 W. Bullock Virginia impartially Examined 7 Trees above twentie kindes, many no English names. Two sorts of Okes, Ashes, Walnut two sorts, Elmes, Cedar, Cipres, Mulberry trees, Chesnut trees, Plumme trees, Puchamine trees, Laurell, Cherries, Crabes, Vines, Sasafras.
1737 J. Wesley Observ. on Georgia in Jrnl. (1739) 57 In the moistest Part of this Land, some Porsimmon-Trees grow, (which bear a sort of yellow, clear, luscious Plum).
1818 E. P. Fordham Personal Narr. Trav. (1906) viii. 143 I found to-day a beautiful prisimon tree, about fifty feet high, and a great quantity of fruit upon it.
1991 G. Ehrlich Islands, Universe, Home x. 183 Cucumber vines climbed persimmon trees.
persimmon wood n.
ΚΠ
1864 A. Winchell Rep. on Coll. Geol., Zoöl. & Bot. in Museum Univ. Michigan 14 Truncheon of Persimmon wood.
1963 E. H. Schafer Golden Peaches of Samarkand viii. 134 This ambiguous substance..overlays, for instance, a box of black persimmon wood for keeping inksticks.
2003 Desert Sun (Palm Springs, Calif.) (Nexis) 23 Mar. 1 c Drivers of his day featured a persimmon wood head with no perimeter weight in the head and a heavy steel shaft.
C2.
persimmon-skin n. U.S. colloquial a person with persimmon-coloured skin; spec. (depreciative) a light-skinned black person.
ΚΠ
1928 S. V. Benét John Brown's Body 150 Grievin' yaller gals always does all right. Next time I'se gwine to git me a coal-black gal. I'se tired of persimmon-skins.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2005; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
<
n.adj.1612