Esculent

//ˈɛskjʊlənt// adj, noun

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    Suitable for eating; eatable, edible. formal

    "[T]he Lacedæmonians, […] had proclaimed that any man that would, ſhould carry in Meale, Wine, Cheeſe, and all other eſculents neceſſary for a Siege, into the Iland, appointing for the ſame a great reward of ſiluer: […]"

  2. 2
    “Good enough to eat”; attractive. figuratively, formal

    "[H]ow could she have known that Harry had written in his notebook, shortly before he encountered her comely, esculent self, "Better that her neck should bear the traces of my loving teeth"? Better than what? One is afraid to ask."

Noun
  1. 1
    Something edible, especially a vegetable; a comestible. formal

    "Thou neuer hadſt in thy houſe to ſtay mens ſtomackes / A peece of Suffolke cheeſe, or Gammon of Bacon, / Or any eſculent, as the learned call it, / For their emolument, but ſheere drinke only."

  2. 2
    An edible mushroom. formal, specifically

    "In a raw state, a piece the size of a pea of either of the three fungi above-mentioned, if placed on the tongue, would cause intolerable agony. Possibly if well cooked some of the poisonous principles might vanish, but we question whether such species should be mentioned amongst esculents in a popular book, simply because a wild "Russian" could eat some of the plants mentioned, possibly to the accompaniment of a draught of rancid train-oil. Some of the so-called esculents are tough subjects, as Polysporus squamosus and P. fomentarius; we venture to say that if anyone should succeed in getting a slice of the first into his inside it would be a matter of surprise to his friends if he ever got a slice of anything else in."

Etymology

Etymology 1

Learned borrowing from Latin ēsculentus (“fit for eating, eatable, edible; good to eat, delicious; nourishing; full of food”) + English -ent (suffix forming adjectives with the sense of causing, doing, or promoting a certain action). Ēsculentus is derived from ēsca (“food; dish prepared for the table; bait”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁ed- (“to eat”)) + -ulentus (suffix meaning ‘abounding in, full of’ forming adjectives).

Etymology 2

Learned borrowing from Latin ēsculentus (“fit for eating, eatable, edible; good to eat, delicious; nourishing; full of food”) + English -ent (suffix forming adjectives with the sense of causing, doing, or promoting a certain action). Ēsculentus is derived from ēsca (“food; dish prepared for the table; bait”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁ed- (“to eat”)) + -ulentus (suffix meaning ‘abounding in, full of’ forming adjectives).

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