gean
nounUK /ɡiːn/
Etymology From Middle French guine (modern French guigne).
1
Dialectal A wild cherry tree, Prunus avium, native to Europe and western Asia or its small, dark fruit.
- Thus in the early year the blue pearl clusters of the grape hyacinth bloomed, and in autumn the geans rejoiced us with the red Chinese lantern gleam of their fruit.1947 [1939], Ernst Jünger, translated by Stuart Hood, On the Marble Cliffs, New Directions, translation of Auf den Marmorklippen (in German), →LCCN, →OCLC, page 12:
- ‘Given the circumstances, Effie,’ he whispered, ‘I could blossom again like a gean-tree.’1955, Robin Jenkins, The Cone-Gatherers, Canongate, published 2012, page 45: