spindle-treen.

Etymology: < spindle n., after German spindelbaum (Old High German spindel-, spinelpaum, spinnilapoum), = Middle Dutch spindelboom; compare also German spillbaum, Dutch spilboom, Middle Low German spillebôm.Previous versions of the OED give the stress as: ˈspindle-tree.

a. An ornamental European shrub ( Euonymus europæus), furnishing a hard fine-grained yellowish wood formerly much used for spindles.

ΘΚΠ

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

1548 W. Turner Names of Herbes sig. D.i Euonymus..maye be called in englishe Spyndle tree or square tree.

1578 H. Lyte tr. R. Dodoens Niewe Herball 760 Some call it..in Englishe Spindel tree, and Pricke timber: bycause the timber..serveth very well to the making both of Prickes and Spindelles.

1607 E. Topsell Hist. Foure-footed Beastes 240 The prickle or spindle tree (called also Euonimus) which groweth in the Mount Occynius.

1668 Bp. J. Wilkins Ess. Real Char. 108 Spindle Tree. Not purgative; having slender flexile twigs.

1734 Philos. Trans. 1733–4 (Royal Soc.) 38 234 On the Twigs it is more even and greener, resembling that of the Evonymus, or Spindle-Tree.

1770 Philos. Trans. 1769 (Royal Soc.) 59 38 I have likewise my suspicions with regard to the Privet and Spindle tree.

1841 Penny Cycl. XXI. 184/1 It is also well seen in the Euonymus, or common spindle-tree, where it forms a beautiful orange-coloured mantle around the seed.

1872 D. Oliver Lessons Elem. Bot. (new ed.) ii. 159 Charcoal is prepared from the wood of the Spindle-tree, for the use of artists.

1884 Longman's Mag. June 191 Willows, laurels, figs, and spindle-trees grew side by side.

attributive.1857 A. Henfrey Elem. Course Bot. 271 Celastraceæ. The Spindle-tree Order.1866 J. Lindley & T. Moore Treasury Bot. I. 233/2 Cassine, a genus of South African plants belonging to the Spindle-tree family, Celastraceæ.1868 H. Watts Dict. Chem. (at cited word) Spindle-tree oil is prepared chiefly in Switzerland.

b. Applied, with distinguishing epithets, to other species of Euonymus, or to plants of different genera (see quots.).

ΚΠ

1714 Philos. Trans. 1713 (Royal Soc.) 28 64 Virginia Spindle-tree with rough Fruit.

1731 P. Miller Gardeners Dict. I. at Euonymus Ever-green African Spindle-Tree.

1731 P. Miller Gardeners Dict. I. at Euonymus Ever-green Ethiopian Spindle-Tree.

1760 J. Lee Introd. Bot. App. 328 Spindle-tree, Bastard, Celastrus.

1760 J. Lee Introd. Bot. App. 328 Spindle-tree, Bastard, Kiggellaria.

1760 J. Lee Introd. Bot. App. 328 Spindle-tree, Climbing, Celastrus.

1771 J. R. Forster Flora Amer. Septentrionalis 11 Evonymus Americanus. Spindle tree, American.

1829 T. Castle Introd. Systematical & Physiol. Bot. 52 Studded over with small warts,..as in warty spindle-tree.

2. plural. The natural order Celastraceæ, to which the genus Euonymus belongs.

ΘΚΠ