hazel meaning: definition, etymology and quotations

hazel

noun

/ˈheɪzəl/

Etymology From Middle English hasel, from Old English hæsl (“hazel, shrub”), from Proto-West Germanic *hasl, from Proto-Germanic *haslaz (“hazel”), from Proto-Indo-European *kóslos (“hazel”). Cognates Cognate with Yola hawlse (“hazel”), Dutch hazel, hazelaar (“hazel”), German Hasel (“hazel”), Vilamovian hozuł (“hazel”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, and Swedish hassel (“hazel”), Icelandic hesli (“hazel”), Norwegian Nynorsk hasl, hassel (“hazel”); also Latin corulus, corylus (“hazel”), Irish call, coll (“hazel”), Manx coull (“hazel”), Scottish Gaelic coll (“hazel”), Welsh cyll (“hazel trees”).

Usually A tree or shrub of the genus Corylus, bearing edible nuts called hazelnuts or filberts.

The green turf was velvet underfoot. The blackbirds fluted in the hazels there.1895, S. R. Crockett, A Cry Across the Black Water:
Have a tree or two the witches particularly like, such as the alder, larch, cypress and hemlock; then, to counteract any possible evil effects, there must be a holly, yew, hazel, elder, mountain ash or juniper.1940, Rosetta E. Clarkson, Green Enchantments: The Magic Spell of Gardens, The Macmillan Company, page 273:

Usually The nut of the hazel tree.

Usually The wood of a hazelnut tree.

Usually A greenish-brown colour, the colour of a ripe hazelnut.

Business, Mining Usually Freestone.

Synonyms: filbert, hazelnut
Derived terms: corkscrew hazel, hazel alder, Hazelbrook, Hazel Dell, hazel dormouse, hazel-eyed, hazel grouse, Hazel Grove, hazel hen, hazel-hen, hazeline, hazelly, hazelnut, hazel nut, hazel pine, hazel pomaderris, hazelwood, Hazelwood, hazelwort, New Zealand hazel, witch-hazel cone gall, witch-hazel cone gall aphid, witch hazel, witch-hazel

hazel

adj

Of a greenish-brown colour. (often used to refer to eye colour)

As she grew up and her hazel eyes became hazeler and her dark hair darker and her white skin whiter, and her form a sigh on every boy’s lips, she concentrated on one dream.1956 January 7, James L. Collings, “Syndicates: Oh Marie! Whatta Gal and Whatta Reporter”, in Robert U[tting] Brown, editor, Editor & Publisher, volume 89, number 1, New York, N.Y.: Editor & Publisher Co., Inc., →ISSN, page 40, column 1:
The shrewd eyes, more hazel than her son’s but with the same straight brows, were fixed on Clary’s face.1986, Robyn Donald, chapter 4, in A Willing Surrender, London: Mills & Boon Limited, →ISBN, page 81:

4 more examples

SAGE: Don’t my eyes look hazeler? (or: periwinkler) / CHLO: (as GARTH) Yes. / SAGE: You said you loved my hazel eyes. (or: periwinkle) Don’t you love them more hazely? (or: periwinkly)1996, Adryan Russ, Doug Haverty, “Act Two”, in Inside Out, New York, N.Y.: Samuel French, Inc., →ISBN, page 58:
The drummer’s eyes took the small woman in slowly, starting with her face, down to her feet and then back up into the hazelest eyes she’d ever seen.2005, Sharon Smith, chapter 2, in Into the Dark, Nederland, Tex.: Yellow Rose Books, →ISBN, page 12:
What’s that line on “Hazel Eyes”: “I’ve never seen a set of eyes more hazeler”? [Justin Hawkins:] “I’ve never seen a set of eyes more hazelerer.”2005 December, Doug Brod, “Burning Sensation”, in Sia Michel, editor, Spin, volume 21, number 12, New York, N.Y., →ISSN, page 73, column 2:
Doolittle had the hazelest eyeballs, the winsomest spinal pelt.2011, Margaret Fiske, “Sense & Circuitry: Cyberth 1813”, in Peter Archer, Jennifer Lawler, editors, Bad Austen: The Worst Stories Jane Never Wrote, Avon, Mass.: Adams Media, F+W Media, Inc., →ISBN, part 2 (If Jane Could See Us Now), page 96:

Derived terms: hazel-eyed
Related terms: lamb's tails, sweet gum