Chestnut

//ˈt͡ʃɛs(t)nʌt// adj, name, noun

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    Of a deep reddish-brown colour, like that of a chestnut fruit (noun sense 1). not-comparable

    "chestnut hair"

Adjective
  1. 1
    (of hair or feathers) of a golden brown to reddish brown color wordnet
Proper Noun
  1. 1
    A surname.

    "And not to rub salt in wounds, when it comes to making mincemeat of the competition, American Joey Chestnut is still top banana."

Noun
  1. 1
    An edible nut (technically a fruit) of the Spanish chestnut or sweet chestnut tree (Castanea sativa); also (chiefly preceded by a descriptive word), a nut from a related shrub or tree; or a similar nut from an unrelated plant. countable

    "Of trouth the cheſtain trees brynge forth the ſoft ſwete cheſtnutte out of the ſharpe pricking ⁊ hard huſke."

  2. 2
    a dark golden-brown or reddish-brown horse wordnet
  3. 3
    In full chestnut tree: the shrub or tree that bears this nut, the Spanish chestnut or sweet chestnut (Castanea sativa); also (chiefly preceded by a descriptive word), a shrub or tree of the genus Castanea. countable

    "The Cheſnut delighteth in ſhadowie places and mountaynes whoſe ſituation is towardes the North."

  4. 4
    a small horny callus on the inner surface of a horse's leg wordnet
  5. 5
    In full chestnut tree: the shrub or tree that bears this nut, the Spanish chestnut or sweet chestnut (Castanea sativa); also (chiefly preceded by a descriptive word), a shrub or tree of the genus Castanea.; Wood of a chestnut tree. uncountable
Show 9 more definitions
  1. 6
    the brown color of chestnuts wordnet
  2. 7
    In full chestnut tree: the shrub or tree that bears this nut, the Spanish chestnut or sweet chestnut (Castanea sativa); also (chiefly preceded by a descriptive word), a shrub or tree of the genus Castanea.; Short for horse chestnut (“any of several tree species of the genus Aesculus, especially Aesculus hippocastanum; the fruit of such a tree”). UK, abbreviation, alt-of, countable

    "And those three chestnuts near, that hung / In masses thick with milky cones."

  3. 8
    edible nut of any of various chestnut trees of the genus Castanea wordnet
  4. 9
    Things resembling a chestnut fruit in appearance or colour.; A dark, reddish-brown colour, like that of chestnut fruit (noun sense 1). broadly, uncountable

    "Roſ[alind]. I'faith his haire is of a good colour. / Cel[ia]. An excellent colour: / Your Cheſſnut vvas euer the onely colour: […]"

  5. 10
    any of several attractive deciduous trees yellow-brown in autumn; yield a hard wood and edible nuts in a prickly bur wordnet
  6. 11
    Things resembling a chestnut fruit in appearance or colour.; A horse with a reddish-brown coat. broadly, countable

    "[T]he noble Vice-President of the Club, Lord Carington […] led the way with his chestnuts, having a distinguished brother whip, Lord Londesborough, by his side."

  7. 12
    wood of any of various chestnut trees of the genus Castanea wordnet
  8. 13
    Things resembling a chestnut fruit in appearance or colour.; An oval or round horny plate located on the inner side of the leg of a horse or other equines, which is thought by some people to correspond with the thumbnail of other animals. broadly, countable
  9. 14
    Chiefly in old chestnut: a joke, meme, phrase, ploy, etc. which has been repeated so often as to have grown ineffective or tiresome; a cliché. countable, figuratively

    "UNIQUE II Break My Stride […] Yep, this is a dance-leaning cover of the Matthew Wilder '80s pop chestnut. It has already saturated radio airwaves throughout Europe, with a number of programmers here already giving it positive feedback."

Etymology

Etymology 1

The noun is a contraction of chest(en) (“(obsolete) chestnut tree; fruit of this tree, chestnut”) + nut. Chesten is a late variant of chesteine (obsolete), from Middle English chesten, chesteine, chasteine, chesteyne (“chestnut tree (Castanea sativa); fruit of this tree; wood of this tree”), from Old French chastaigne, chastaine (French châtaigne), from Latin castanea (“chestnut tree; fruit of this tree”) (whence Old English ċisten), from Ancient Greek κᾰστᾰ́νειᾰ (kăstắneiă), a variant of κᾰ́στᾰνᾰ (kắstănă, “sweet chestnut”); for further etymology, see that entry. Doublet of castanet. Noun sense 4 (“joke, phrase, etc., which has been repeated so often as to have grown ineffective or tiresome”) may refer to an 1816 play, The Broken Sword, by William Dimond (1781 – c. 1837), in which one character begins to relate a story in which a boy slips down from a cork tree, and another interrupts him to say that he had previously repeated the story many times, and always mentioned a chestnut tree. The adjective is probably from an attributive use of the noun; compare French (of hair) châtain (“chestnut”) (from châtaigne (“a chestnut”)) and marron (“brown”) (from marron (“a horse chestnut or chestnut”)).

Etymology 2

The noun is a contraction of chest(en) (“(obsolete) chestnut tree; fruit of this tree, chestnut”) + nut. Chesten is a late variant of chesteine (obsolete), from Middle English chesten, chesteine, chasteine, chesteyne (“chestnut tree (Castanea sativa); fruit of this tree; wood of this tree”), from Old French chastaigne, chastaine (French châtaigne), from Latin castanea (“chestnut tree; fruit of this tree”) (whence Old English ċisten), from Ancient Greek κᾰστᾰ́νειᾰ (kăstắneiă), a variant of κᾰ́στᾰνᾰ (kắstănă, “sweet chestnut”); for further etymology, see that entry. Doublet of castanet. Noun sense 4 (“joke, phrase, etc., which has been repeated so often as to have grown ineffective or tiresome”) may refer to an 1816 play, The Broken Sword, by William Dimond (1781 – c. 1837), in which one character begins to relate a story in which a boy slips down from a cork tree, and another interrupts him to say that he had previously repeated the story many times, and always mentioned a chestnut tree. The adjective is probably from an attributive use of the noun; compare French (of hair) châtain (“chestnut”) (from châtaigne (“a chestnut”)) and marron (“brown”) (from marron (“a horse chestnut or chestnut”)).

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