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Webster 1913 Edition


Chinquapin

Chin′qua-pin

,
Noun.
(Bot.)
A branching, nut-bearing tree or shrub (
Castanea pumila
) of North America, from six to twenty feet high, allied to the chestnut. Also, its small, sweet, edible nat.
[Written also
chincapin
and
chinkapin
.]
Chinquapin oak
,
a small shrubby oak (
Quercus prinoides
) of the Atlantic States, with edible acorns.
Western Chinquapin
,
an evergreen shrub or tree (
Castanopes chrysophylla
) of the Pacific coast. In California it is a shrub; in Oregon a tree 30 to 125 feet high.

Definition 2024


chinquapin

chinquapin

English

Alternative forms

Noun

chinquapin (plural chinquapins)

  1. Any of the trees in the genus Castanopsis.
  2. Any of the trees and shrubs in the genus Chrysolepis.
  3. A water-chinquapin, the water plant Nelumbo lutea, American lotus.
  4. The redear sunfish (Lepomis microlophus).
  5. A species in the chestnut genus Castanea:
    1. Allegheny chinkapin (Castanea pumila)
    2. Ozark chinkapin (Castanea ozarkensis)
    3. Chinese chinkapin (Castanea henryi)
  6. A chinkapin oak (Quercus muhlenbergii), a species of oak whose leaves resemble those of chestnut-genus chinquapins.

Synonyms

Translations

References

  1. Bulletin 30 of the Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico: "Such forms as chincomen and chechinquamin, found in early writings, make plausible the supposition that a p was later substituted for an m in the last syllable of the word, which would then represent the widespread Algonquian radical min, 'fruit', 'seed'. The first component [...], according to Hewitt, is probably cognate with the Delaware chinqua, 'large', 'great'.