Category:Hazel

Ha"zel, n. Etym: [OE. hasel, AS. hæsel; akin to D. hazelaar, G. hazel, OHG. hasal, hasala, Icel. hasl, Dan & Sw. hassel, L. corylus, for cosylus.]

1. (Bot.)

Defn: A shrub or small tree of the genus Corylus, as the C. avellana, bearing a nut containing a kernel of a mild, farinaceous taste; the filbert. The American species are C. Americana, which produces the common hazelnut, and C. rostrata. See Filbert. Gray.

2. A miner's name for freestone. Raymond. Hazel earth, soil suitable for the hazel; a fertile loam. -- Hazel grouse (Zoöl.), a European grouse (Bonasa betulina), allied to the American ruffed grouse. -- Hazel hoe, a kind of grub hoe. -- Witch hazel. See Witch-hazel, and Hamamelis.

hazel Ha"zel, a.

1. Consisting of hazels, or of the wood of the hazel; pertaining to, or derived from, the hazel; as, a hazel wand. I sit me down beside the hazel grove. Keble.

2. Of a light brown color, like the hazelnut. "Thou hast hazel eyes." Shak.

--- ---excerpt from the Illustrated Bible Dictionary

Hazel - Heb. luz, (Genesis 30:37), a nut-bearing tree. The Hebrew word is rendered in the Vulgate by amygdalinus, "the almond-tree," which is probably correct. That tree flourishes in Syria.