aspen, a. and n.
(ˈɑːspən, æ-)
Forms: ? 1 æspen, 4– aspen, 6–8 aspine, 7–9 aspin.
[f. asp1 + -en; cf. ashen. In aspen leaf we might suppose a survival of the OE. gen. æspan: see the first quot.; cf. MHG. espenlaub; the later subst. use evidently arose from taking aspen in such constructions as a n. used attributively; later instances of the adj. may be really attrib. uses of the factitious n.]
A. adj.
1. Of or belonging to the asp: see asp1.
| [Cf. c 1000 Sax. Leechd. II. 116 Genim æspan rind.] c 1386 Chaucer Sompn. Prol. 3 Lyk an aspen leef he quok for ire. 1588 Shakes. Tit. A. ii. iv. 45 Oh had the monster seene those Lilly hands, Tremble like Aspen leaues vpon a Lute. 1632 G. Fletcher Christ's Tri. 66 Perch't on an aspin sprig. 1829 Southey All for Love vi. Wks. VII. 188 Like an aspen leaf he trembled. |
2. fig. Tremulous, quivering; quaking, timorous.
| a 1420 Hoccleve A de B xvii, With aspen herte I praye hem abyde. 1596 Chapman Iliad viii. 405 Possess'd with aspen fear. c 1630 Drummond of Hawthornden Wks. (1711) 7/1 And, as their aspin stalks those fingers bind [? band]..I wish'd to be a hyacinth in her hand. 1757 H. Walpole Lett. H. Mann 296 III. 191 Has the aspen Duke of Newcastle lived thus? 1820 Keats Hyperion i. 94 His beard Shook horrid with such aspen malady. |
3. esp. in reference to a woman's tongue.
| 1532 More Confut. Barnes viii. Wks. 769/1 For if they [women] myghte be suffred to begin ones in the congregacion to fal in disputing, those aspen leaues of theirs would neuer leaue waggyng. 1597 T. Howell Poems (1879) 150 In womens mindes: are diuers winds, which stur their Aspin tunge, to prate and chat. |
B. n. = asp1.
| 1596 Spenser F.Q. i. i. 8 The aspine good for staves. 1703 Art's Improv. I. 33 The whitest Wood..is fitest for this purpose; as Aspen, Abel, Sycamore. a 1717 Parnell Poet. Wks. (1833) 51 Thy aspins quiver in a breathing breeze. 1870 Morris Earthly Par. I. ii. 454 Above our heads rustle the aspens grey. |
b. in similative relations; as aspen-like, aspen-weak.
| 1863 Geo. Eliot Romola lxii, A momentary aspen-like touch. 1879 J. Todhunter Alcestis 116 And leaves me weak, O, aspen weak. |