noun ·2 syllables ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   Any tree or shrub of the dogwood subgenera, Cornus subg. Arctocrania (syn. Cornus subg. Chamaepericlymenum) or Cornus subg. Cornus, especially Cornus mas, the European cornel.
2. 2
   a tree of shrub of the genus Cornus often having showy bracts resembling flowers wordnet
3. 3
   The cherry-like fruit of such plants, certain of which are edible.

   "Cornels, and ſalvage Berries of the Wood, / And Roots and Herbs have been my meagre Food."

Synonyms

All synonyms

cornel cherrycornelian cherrycornelian cherrydogwooddogwooddogwood tree

Example

More examples

"With cornel shrubs and many a prickly spear / of myrtle crowned, it chanced a mound was near."

Etymology

From Middle English corneille, borrowed from Middle French corneille, from Vulgar Latin *cornicula, from Latin cornus (“the European cornel”).

Related phrases

Canadian dwarf cornelEuropean cornelJapanese cornelJapanese cornelian cherrycornelian cherrydwarf cornelsilky cornelcornus maseuropean cornel

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.