/ˈheɪzəl/
OriginFrom 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”).
- countable, usuallyA 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.”
“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 o”
- countable, usuallyThe nut of the hazel tree.
- uncountable, usuallyThe wood of a hazelnut tree.
- countable, uncountable, usuallyA greenish-brown colour, the colour of a ripe hazelnut.
- countable, usuallyFreestone.
- 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.”
“The shrewd eyes, more hazel than her son’s but with the same straight brows, were fixed on Clary’s face.”
“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)”
- countable, uncountableA female given name from English from the plant or colour hazel. Popular in the U.S. at the turn of the 20th century.
“GREEN. - - Squire Rodney has been looking into your affairs, and, by Jove! he swears you've deceived Hazel Kirke!
ARTHUR. Deceived her? How?
GREEN. He says that your marriage to her was a pretence, a ”
“In the month of May,
When all nature seems in touch with hidden jewels,
We called her Hazel,
Hazel May.”
“Now, as I mentioned earlier, I never liked the name Hazel. I didn't like being called after a nut. I wanted to be called Rosemary, something pretty.”
- countable, uncountableA topographic surname from Middle English for someone who lived near a hazel tree.
- countable, uncountableA minor city in Calloway County, Kentucky.
- countable, uncountableA town in Hamlin County, South Dakota.
- countable, uncountableAn unincorporated community in Snohomish County, Washington.
- countable, uncountableAn unincorporated community in Wetzel County, West Virginia.
Formshazels(plural) · hazle(alternative, archaic) · more hazel(comparative) · hazeler(comparative, rare) · most hazel(superlative) · hazelest(rare, superlative) · Hazels(plural) · Hasell(alternative) · Hazell(alternative)