apple tree meaning: definition, etymology and quotations

apple tree

nounalso spelled apple-tree

UK /ˈæpl̩ tɹiː/ · CA, US /ˈæpl̩ tɹi/

Etymology From Middle English appeltre, appiltre, appultre, from Old English æppeltrēow, corresponding to apple + tree. Cognate with Danish æbletræ, Swedish äppelträd, Norwegian epletre, Icelandic eplatré.

Biology, Botany, Natural sciences Any tree that bears apples, principally Malus domestica but also certain wild species.

Derived terms: apple tree borer, Apple Tree Flat
Related terms: the apple doesn't fall far from the tree

apple-tree

noun

Rare Rare form of apple tree.

And I'll sing a song as rare Of the apple-tree! The red-bloomed apple-tree; The red-cheeked apple-tree;1838, Parley's Magazine (American periodical series: 1800-1850), volume 6, C.S. Francis & Company, →OCLC, THE APPLE-TREE, page 290:
Many years ago, my old friend, the late Dr. J. A. Lintner, State Entomologist of New York, compiled a list of 356 insects that feed on the apple-tree. Later authorities place the number at nearly five hundred species.2008, Liberty Hyde Bailey, The Apple-Tree: the Open Country (Library of Alexandria), Library of Alexandria, →ISBN, →OCLC:

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — authors: page histories for apple tree and apple-tree.