mistletoe
Part of speech: noun
Morphological type: compound
Etymology: From Middle English mistelto, mistilto (“European mistletoe”), from Old English misteltān (“mistletoe”), from mistel (“mistletoe; basil; birdlime”) + tān (“sprig, shoot, twig”), possibly as a calque of Old Norse mistilteinn; equivalent to mistle + tan (“twig”). This was mistaken for the plural of tā (“toe”).
Cognate with Danish mistelten (“mistletoe”), Norwegian misteltein (“mistletoe”), Icelandic mistilteinn (“mistletoe”). Compare also the simplex form West Frisian mistel (“mistletoe”), Dutch mistel (“mistletoe”), German Mistel (“mistletoe”), Swedish mistel (“mistletoe”).
Compound parts: mistle
tan
Inflected forms:
form: mistletoes
pos: noun
tags: plural
form: misleto
pos: noun
tags: alternative
form: miseltoe
pos: noun
tags: alternative
form: misletoe
pos: noun
tags: alternative
form: mistle-toe
pos: noun
tags: alternative
form: misseltoe
pos: noun
tags: alternative
Senses:
gloss: Any of numerous hemiparasitic evergreen plants of the order Santalales with white berries that grow in the crowns of apple trees, oaks, and other trees, such as the European mistletoe (Viscum album) and American mistletoe or eastern mistletoe (Phoradendron leucarpum).
pos: noun
tags: countable
uncountable
examples: (all obsolete or archaic)
Miſtletoe, by phyſicians, &c. called viſcus, grows to the height of about two feet. […] Pliny and moſt naturaliſts relate, that thruſhes being exceedingly fond of the berries of the miſtletoe; they ſwallow them, and caſt them out again on the branches of trees, where they uſe to perch; and by this means give occaſion to a new production of miſtletoe.
In Martigny I first observed the custom, common throughout many parts of Switzerland, of hanging mistletoes over the house doors; a superstition for which I have not been able to get any reason rendered.
Mistletoes were growing on the Euphorbias; they were much more succulent than when growing on woody shrubs or on trees. […] One of the Mistletoes common in Southern Africa, has small, myrtle-like leaves and red berries; another is leafless, and has stems resembling a Salicornia.
The brooms caused by Douglas-fir dwarf mistletoe begin as small sprays of twigs radiating from a swollen limb […] but in time they become large, more or less spherical in shape, and often with long, droopy twigs. […] Although the parasite is present throughout each broom, the only visible portions of dwarf mistletoe are the reproductive shoots which are called "aerial shoots."
[T]he stickiness [of mistletoe berries] persists through the gut, making it hard to defecate mistletoe seeds with any grace. To deal with this, birds like the silky flycatcher, Phainopepla nitens, that are mistletoe specialists, have evolved a "waggle dance" – also known as butt-wiping behavior – where they clean up by rubbing themselves against twigs. Indeed, the association with bird droppings may even be the origin of the word: Some evidence suggests that "mistletoe" comes from Anglo-Saxon for "dung on a twig."
gloss: A sprig of one such plant used as a Christmas decoration, associated with the custom that a man may kiss any woman standing beneath it.
pos: noun
tags: uncountable
examples: Miſtletoe! why I know what that is, as we garniſh our Houſe with it every Year, at Chriſtmas.
There were ruddy, brown-faced, broad-girthed Spanish Onions, shining in the fatness of their growth like Spanish Friars; and winking from their shelves in wanton slyness at the girls as they went by, and glanced demurely at the hung-up mistletoe.
Everybody knows a turkey and some mistletoe / Help to make the season bright / Tiny tots with their eyes all aglow / Will find it hard to sleep tonight
Rockin' around the Christmas tree / At the Christmas party hop / Mistletoe hung where you can see / Every couple tries to stop
Mistletoe. The word conjures winter holidays, office parties, stolen kisses, romance. But appreciation of the plant is no modern thing. Kissing under the mistletoe has been happening for at least 200 years. And some 2,000 years ago, the druids in which is now Britain venerated the plant when it grew on an oak. When they found it, they dressed in white, harvested it with a golden sickle, and sacrificed two white bulls.
Related words: mistle thrush
viscin
viscivorus
viscotoxin
Translations: