Maple

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -eɪpÉ™l

Origin

Old English mapultrēow and mapulder, from Proto-Germanic *mapulaz (compare Old Saxon mapulder, Old High German mazaltra, mazzaltra; Old Icelandic möpurr, Middle Low German mapeldorn, dialectal Dutch meppel, German Masseller, Maßholder), perhaps a blend of *masuraz 'knob; maple-tree' (compare Old Icelandic mösurr 'maple', Low German/German Maser 'knob, offshoot') and *apulaz 'apple' (see apple), from *masam 'lump, knob' (compare obsolete German Mase 'scar', modern Maser 'speck, measle').

Friedrich Kluge, Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, s.v. "Maser" (Berlin: De Gruyter, 2002).

Francis A. Wood, "Germanic Etymologies", Modern Philology (University of Chicago Press, January 1914), 1.

More at measles.

Full definition of maple

Noun

1. A tree of the Acer genus, characterised by its usually palmate leaves and winged seeds.

Derived terms

Derived terms

• maple syrup
• maple sugar

Anagrams

• ample