any cornaceous plant of the genus Cornus, such as the dogwood and dwarf cornel
Word origin
C16: probably from Middle Low German kornelle, from Old French cornelle, from Vulgar Latin cornicula (unattested), from Latin cornum cornel cherry, from cornus cornel tree
cornel in American English
(ˈkɔrnəl)
noun
dogwood (sense 2), esp. bunchberry
Word origin
ME & OFr corneille < VL *cornea < L cornus; akin to Gr kranos, cornel tree, prob. akin to kerasos, cherry tree: see cherry