mespilum

Latin

Alternative forms

mespila, *nespila, *nespira, *nespirum

Etymology

Borrowed from Ancient Greek μέσπιλον (méspilon).

Pronunciation

(Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈmɛs.pɪ.ɫũː]
(modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈmɛs.pi.lum]

Noun

mespilum n (genitive mespilī); second declension

The medlar (fruit or tree)

Declension

Second-declension noun (neuter).

	singular	plural
nominative	mespilum	mespila
genitive	mespilī	mespilōrum
dative	mespilō	mespilīs
accusative	mespilum	mespila
ablative	mespilō	mespilīs
vocative	mespilum	mespila

Descendants

Old French: mesple, mesdle, medle, mesle
- French: nèfle
- → Middle English: medle, meyle, mele, melde
- ⇒ medler, meslier
  - → Middle English: medler, meddeler, medeler, middiller, medlar
    - English: medlar
Italian: nespolo, nespola
Mozarabic: نياشبُرُش (/⁠niéšporoš⁠/), ناشبُرُش (nāšburuš /⁠néšporoš⁠/)
Portuguese: nêspera
Spanish: níspero
→ Proto-West Germanic: *mespilā (see there for further descendants)

References

“mespilum”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
mespilum in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.

Further reading

Douglas Harper (2001–2025) “medlar”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.