Middle English Dictionary Entry

appel n.(1)
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Entry Info

Forms appel n.(1) Also appelle, appil, apple, appul(le, apul, eappel, eppel, eppel(e, æp(p)el, æpple, (with n- from initial article) nappil, (in names) apel, apil; pl. appels, etc., & apples, applez, applis, applæs, apills, appilles, appillis, appulles, appullis, applen(e, aplin, appullon.
Etymology OE æppel; pl. æp(p)las & æp(p)la, ap(p)la.

Definitions (Senses and Subsenses)

Note: Additional spellings may appear under the compounds given separate entries; see sense 7. for cross-references.
1.
(a) Any kind of fruit growing on a tree, shrub, or vine, such as an apple, crab apple, pear, peach, citron, banana, haw, berry, cucumber; also, a nut, a tuber; (b) a fruit-bearing tree; (c) ~ of cedre, citron; ~ of mandragora, mandrake root; ~ of ok, oak gall; ~ of paradis, banana; Adam ~, q.v.
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2.
An apple (wild or cultivated); (b) an apple tree or cuttings from an apple tree; (c) æppeles siwe, apple juice, ?cider.
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3.
A legendary fruit: (a) the 'forbidden fruit' in Paradise; (b) the 'apple of Sodom' or 'Dead Sea fruit' [see quots.].
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4.
Proverbs & sayings.
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5.
A sphere, orb, ball: (a) a golden orb, symbol of imperial authority; (b) the 'apple of discord'; (c) the 'apples of the Hesperides'; (d) a sphere; a ball [?an apple, quots. c1350, a1450]; appel brestes.
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6.
Anat. & med. (a) appel of the eie, eyeball; the visible part of the eye, esp. the pupil; hole of the ~, pupil; (b) ~ of the cheke, the ball of the cheek; ~ of the cheke bon, the projection formed by the cheekbone; ~ of the maxille, the lateral projection of the jawbone; (c) ded appel, a dry-scabbed abscess on the leg; a swelling in the face.
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7.
Cpds. & combs.: (a) ~ bi, Appelby; (b) ~ bite, a bit or bite of an apple; (c) ~ blome, cloth of the color of apple blossoms or figured with apple blossoms; (d) ~ crok, a grappling hook; (e) ~ eting; (f) ~ friture, fruture, apple fritter; (g) ~ garnade, pomegranate; (h) ~ garth, ~ gard, an orchard; ~ grei, dapple grey, grey variegated with rounded spots or patches of a darker shade, said of horses; (i) ~ hord, ~ hurd, a store or a place for storing apples; (j) ~ hous, a place for storing apples; (k) ~ jus, apple juice, cider; (1) ~ keper, fruit vender or grower; (m) ~ knoll; (n) ~ leaf, a flower: ?pansy; ?gilliflower, stock; (o) ~ man, fruit vender or grower; (p) ~ moile, ~ moi, an apple dessert; (q) ~ mos, ~ moce, ~ mois, ~ muse, an apple dessert; (r) ~ seller, fruit vender; (s) ~ stalk, the stem of an apple; (t) ~ tun, orchard [OE]; (u) ~ tre, q. v.; (v) ~ yerd, orchard.
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Supplemental Materials (draft)

  • (1339) Plea & Mem.R.Lond.Gildh.109 : [Walter, son of John Barry, taken with the mainour of a supertunic of] appelblome [and a tunic of blanket of the value of one mark, which he stolen from the house of Roger de Barkworth, tailor.]
Note: Fuller form of the first example in sense 7.(c)

Supplemental Materials (draft)

Note: Med., etc., see further J.Norri, Dictionary of Medical Vocabulary, s.v. apple.

Supplemental Materials (draft)

Note: Med., etc. (sense 6.(a)), see further J.Norri, Dictionary of Medical Vocabulary, s.v. apple of the eye.

Supplemental Materials (draft)

Note: Med., etc. (sense 6.(b)), see further J.Norri, Dictionary of Medical Vocabulary, s.v. apple of maxille.

Supplemental Materials (draft)

Note: Med., etc. (sense 6.(b)), see further J.Norri, Dictionary of Medical Vocabulary, s.v. apple of the cheek.

Supplemental Materials (draft)

Note: Med., etc. (sense 6.(b)), see further J.Norri, Dictionary of Medical Vocabulary, s.v. apple of the cheekbone.

Supplemental Materials (draft)

Note: Med., etc. (sense 6.(c)), see further J.Norri, Dictionary of Medical Vocabulary, s.v. dead apple.

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