Link Centre Dictionary

mistletoe

mist·le·toe

UK/ˈmɪs(ə)ltəʊ/ US/ˈmɪz(ə)ltəʊ/ uncommon

noun

1.

American plants closely resembling Old World mistletoe

Synonyms
2.
3.

shrub of central and southeastern Europe; partially parasitic on beeches, chestnuts and oaks

Synonyms

Origin

From Middle English mistelto, mistilto (“European mistletoe”), from Old English misteltān (“mistletoe”), from mistel (“mistletoe; basil; birdlime”) + tān (“sprig, shoot, twig”), possibly as a calque of Old Norse mistilteinn; equivalent to mistle + tan (“twig”). This was mistaken for the plural of tā (“toe”). Cognate with Danish mistelten (“mistletoe”), Norwegian misteltein (“mistletoe”), Icelandic mistilteinn (“mistletoe”). Compare also the simplex form West Frisian mistel (“mistletoe”), Dutch mistel (“mistletoe”), German Mistel (“mistletoe”), Swedish mistel (“mistletoe”).

Phrases

  • mistle thrush

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

Narrower terms

Parts

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.