mistletoe
(ˈmɪz(ə)ltəʊ, ˈmɪs(ə)ltəʊ)
Forms: α. 1 mistiltán, 5 mistilto, 6 myscelto, -towe, miscelto, mysteltew, misteltow, -tewe, -dew, misletoa, muscelto, 6–7 miselto, 6–8 misselto, 7 misceltow, messelto, 7–9 misseltoe, mis(s)letoe, 8–9 miseltoe, mistleto, 9 -tow, 7– mistletoe. β. 6 mysceltyne, misceldin, misselden, 6–7 mis(c)elden, 7 misseldin(e, mistleden, meseldine, 8 misleden. γ. 6 mislen, 7 misleen. 9 dial. mislin.
[OE. mistiltán (= ON. mistilteinn, Sw., Da. mistleten), f. mistil, -el (see missel) + tán twig.
The normal development (with obscuration of the final syllable) of OE. mistiltán is represented by the β-forms, of which the disyllabic γ-forms appear to be merely contractions. The α-forms, to which the current form belongs, descend from another type having secondary stress on the final syllable, which app. underwent the same development as the uncompounded word tán (str. masc.), from which tá (wk. fem.) was evolved in late WS.]
1. a. A parasitic plant of Europe, Viscum album (family Loranthaceæ), growing on various trees (in Britain, frequently on the apple-tree, rarely on the oak) and bearing a glutinous fruit, from which a birdlime is prepared.
This plant was held in veneration by the Druids, esp. when found growing on the oak. It is still used in England in Christmas decorations, a bunch of it being commonly hung from the ceiling of a room or hall: see also quot. 1820.
| α c 1000 ælfric Gloss. in Wr.-Wülcker 136/11 Uiscerago, mistiltan. 1548 Turner Names Herbes (E.D.S.) 89 Muscelto. c 1550 Lloyd Treas. Health C vij b, Mysceltowe layd to the head draweth out the corrupt humores. 1558 T. Phaer æneid vi. P 4 b marg., Mysteltew callyd of some misteldew growyng on trees in winter with a yelowe shiny bery. 1588 Shakes. Tit. A. ii. iii. 95 The Trees..Ore-come with Mosse, and baleful Misselto. 1599 A. M. tr. Gabelhouer's Bk. Physicke 24/1 Take Misletoa of Hasellnuttree..Misletoa of Oackes, of Pearetree. 1663 Boyle Usef. Exp. Nat. Philos. ii. v. vii. 185 A young Lady..was cured onely by the powder of true misseltoe of the oake. 1716 Gay Trivia ii. 41 Now with bright Holly all your Temples strow, With Laurel green, and sacred Misletoe. 1768 Tucker Lt. Nat. II. 371 It is thought the misletoe would be lost out of nature, if it were not continually propagated from tree to tree by the thrush. 1820 W. Irving Sketch Bk., Christmas Eve (1821) III. 32 note, The mistletoe is still hung up in farm-houses and kitchens at Christmas; and the young men have the privilege of kissing the girls under it, plucking each time a berry from the bush. When the berries are all plucked the privilege ceases. 1866 Treas. Bot. 1221/1 The mistleto of the oak had such repute for ‘helping’ in the diseases incidental to infirmity and old age, that it was called Lignum Sanctæ Crucis, Wood of the Holy Cross. 1885 Encycl. Brit. XVIII. 265/2 The mistletoe grows on a large number of different trees, such as the apple, lime, elm, maple, willow, thorn, poplar, and even on conifers. |
| β 1538 Turner Libellus, Viscum, angli uocant Mysceltyne, aut Myscelto. 1548 ― Names Herbes (E.D.S.) 80 Viscum is called..in english Miscelto or Misceldin. 1590 Greene Never too late (1600) 89 None comes neere the fume of the Misselden but he waxeth blinde. 1611 Cotgr., Visc, Missell, Misseltoe, Misseldine. 1656 Blount Glossogr., Messelto, Meseldine, or Mistelden [ed. 1661 Misselden]. [And in later Dicts.] |
| γ 1562 W. Bullein Bulw. Def., Bk. Simples (1579) 50 b marg., Misteltow or Mislen. Ibid. 50 b, This mislen groweth..vpon the tree through the dounge of byrdes. 1680 T. Lawson Mite into Treas. 50 The Druides had Oak-Trees in great estimation; they worshipped the Misleen that grows thereon. a 1825 Forby Voc. E. Anglia (1830), Mislin-bush. |
b. Applied to other species of
Viscum and other genera of family Loranthaceæ.
American mistletoe or
false mistletoe,
Phoradendron (Viscum) flavescens.
West Indian mistletoe,
Loranthus,
Phoradendron, and
Arceuthobium (
Treas. Bot.).
| 1597 Gerarde Herbal iii. xxxv. 1168, 2 Viscum Indicum L'Obelij, Indian Misseltoe. 3 Viscum Peruuianum L'Obelij, Misseltoe of Peru. 1806 Lewis & Clark in Deb. Congress U.S. (1852) 9th Congress 2 Sess. App. 1142 Mistletoe, thistle, wild hemp, bulrush. 1819 E. Evans Pedestrious Tour 318 In this..country [sc. Louisiana] grows the celebrated plant called mistletoe. 1838 J. Hall Notes on Western States ii. 28 The mistletoe is seen hanging from the branches of the trees throughout the whole course of the Ohio. 1845–50 A. H. Lincoln Lect. Bot. 186 Viscum verticillatum (mistletoe). 1847–60 Darlington Amer. Weeds & Pl. 287 Phoradendron,..P. flavescens..Mistletoe. False Mistletoe. 1860 Gray Man. Bot. 383 P. flavescens..(American Mistletoe). |
† 2. Basil;
= missel 2.
Obs.| a 1400 Stockholm Med. MS. 211 Mistilto, osinun. |
3. attrib. and
Comb., as
mistletoe berry,
mistletoe birdlime,
mistletoe bough,
mistletoe plant,
mistletoe seed,
mistletoe tree;
mistletoe bird Austral., a small black, white, and crimson bird,
Dicæum hirundinaceum, which feeds on nectar, pollen, and berries;
mistletoe cactus, a tropical American epiphytic cactus of the genus
Rhipsalis,
esp. R. cassytha and other species bearing white fruits resembling those of mistletoe;
mistletoe thrush, the missel-thrush,
Turdus viscivorus.
| 1626 Bacon Sylva §556 It may be, that Bird feedeth upon the *Misseltoe-Berries and so is often found there. |
| 1908 E. J. Banfield Confessions of Beachcomber i. iii. 96 Flower-pecker or *Mistletoe Bird. 1944 A. Russell Bush Ways iii. 19 Already there is a mistletoe-bird, with crimson breast, swaying itself on a mistletoe twig. 1965 Austral. Encycl. VI. 104/2 Mistletoe-bird, a small arboreal bird (Dicaeum hirundinaceum), the only representative in Australia of a group found throughout southern Asia..and belonging to a family known as flower-peckers. |
| 1597 Gerarde Herbal iii. xxxv. 1170 It can no where be read that Chamæleon niger doth beare *Misseltoe birdlime. |
| a 1839 T. H. Bayly (title of poem), The *Mistletoe Bough. |
| [1850 J. Macfadyen Flora Jamaica II. 182 Rhipsalis... Pseudo-parasitic plants, growing on trees, leafless, with small flowers, and with berries white, resembling those of the mistletoe.] 1889 W. Watson Cactus Culture for Amateurs 227 They [sc. the flowers]..are succeeded by white berries, exactly like those of the Mistletoe, whence the name *Mistletoe Cactus, by which this species [sc. Rhipsalis cassytha] is known. 1967 Elbert & Hyams House Plants xi. 102 R[hipsalis] cassytha, the Mistletoe Cactus, is a hanging mass of succulent branches dripping with white berries. |
| 1753 Chambers Cycl. Supp. s.v., The branches of trees full of *Misletoe plants. |
| Ibid., The radicle of a *Misletoe seed. |
| 1719 Sir J. Colbatch Diss. conc. Mistletoe 7 A Bird generally known by the Name of the *Misletoe Thrush; which Name, I suppose, it derives from its feeding upon Misletoe-Berries. 1828 J. Fleming Hist. Brit. Anim. 64 Throstle Cock, Shrite,..Misselto Thrush. |
| 1562 Turner Herbal ii. 164 b, Of the Missel or *Misselto tre. |