▪ I. quince
(kwɪns)
Forms: α. (4 wince), 5 qwince, quence, 5–6 quynce, quynse, (5 qw-), 7– quince. β. 6 quench, 6–7 quinch.
[Prop. pl. of quine, quyne coyn (q.v.), used first as a collective and then as a sing.]
1. a. The hard, acid, yellowish, pear-shaped fruit of a small tree (Pyrus Cydonia) belonging to the pear-family, used in cookery as a preserve or to flavour dishes of other fruits; the seeds are also employed in medicine and the arts. Also, the tree bearing this fruit.
Several varieties are named after their localities, as the Barbary quince, Chinese quince, Japanese quince, Lyons quince, Portugal, etc., quince.
| α c 1325 [see quince-tree in 3]. a 1400 Pistill Susan (Phillips MS.) 102 Ouere her hedis gan hyng The qwince [Vernon MS. wince] and þe qwerdlyng. c 1420 Pallad. on Husb. ii. 249 Ek graffe hem..In whit thorn in hem silf, in quynce also. c 1430 Two Cookery-bks. 51 Take fayre raw Quynces, & pare hem with a knyf. 1533 Elyot Cast. Helthe (1539) 20 b, Quynces be colde and drye. 1604 E. G[rimstone] D'Acosta's Hist. Indies iv. xxxvii. 311 The quinces, poungranets, and other fruites there. 1731 Fielding Grub St. Opera iii. iii, An apple-pye with quinces—why quinces, when you know quinces are so dear? 1875 H. C. Wood Therap. (1879) 579 The seeds of the quince contain a large quantity of mucilage. |
| β 1501 Hollybush Hom. Apoth. 14 The karnels of quinches. Ibid. 27 b, As yelowe as a quenche. 1615 W. Lawson Country Housew. Gard. (1626) 3 We meddle not with Apricocks nor Peaches, nor scarcely with Quinches. |
b. Phr.
to get on (a person's) quince, to irritate or exasperate.
Austral. slang.| 1941 Baker Dict. Austral. Slang 58 Get on one's quince, to annoy or aggravate deeply. 1948 Sydney Morning Herald 3 July 9/1 Aw, can it boss! You're gettin' on me quince. 1963 A. E. Farrell Vengeance ii. 19 These bloody trees are getting on me quince! 1974 D. O'Grady Deschooling Kevin Carew 95 In an unguarded moment, he told Bill Moynihan ‘This joint is getting on my quince.’ |
2. Applied to other fruits or trees resembling the quince.
Bengal quince: see
Bengal 2.
native quince, the Australian bitter-bark, emu-apple, or quinine-tree.
wild quince, the Australian black ash (Morris
Austral Engl.).
| 1876 Harley Mat. Med. (ed. 6) 696 Indian Bael or Bengal Quince is common in India. 1882 Garden 27 May 358/2 What Mr. Ross calls..‘the wild Quince’ is a handsome large flowered tree. |
3. attrib. and
Comb., as
quince-apple,
quince-cake,
quince-cheese,
quince-cream,
quince-gum,
quince jam,
quince jelly,
quince-marmalade,
quince-mucilage,
quince-peach,
quince-pear,
quince-pie,
quince pudding,
quince-stock,
quince-tinct,
quince-tree,
quince-wine,
quince-wood;
quince-coloured,
quince-flavoured adjs.| 1600 Surflet Countrie Farme iii. xxv. 480 The male..is called the *quince apple. 1664 Evelyn Kal. Hort. (1729) 216 Lording-Apple, Pear-Apple, Quince-Apple. |
| 1616 Surflet & Markh. Country Farm iii. l. 423 To make *Quince-cakes thin [etc.]. 1625 Massinger New Way ii. ii, Put these few quince-cakes into your pocket. |
| 1884 Leisure Hour June 375/1 Apple syrup, *quince cheese, candied fruits, were among the delicacies of the age. |
| 1907 *Quince-coloured [see low-sized s.v. low a. 21]. |
| 1723 J. Nott Cook's & Confectioner's Dict. sig. Ee 4 (heading) To make *quince cream. 1974 J. Grigson Eng. Food 216 (heading) Gooseberry, pear, apple or quince cream. |
| 1950 D. Gascoyne Vagrant 55 And whilom most becomingly strums On his poignantly *Quince-flavoured lute! |
| 1936 Farmhouse Fare 113 *Quince jam... Put the pulp through a sieve, or mash very finely with wooden spoon. 1978 R. V. Jones Most Secret War xxxvii. 330 My moment came when I asked him one day whether he had ever made quince jam. |
| 1861 Mrs. Beeton Bk. Househ. Managem. 795 *Quince jelly... To every pint of juice allow 1 lb. of loaf sugar. 1971 M. McCarthy Birds Amer. 35 They stole quinces..and she put up quince jelly. |
| 1636 P. Massinger Great Duke of Florence iv. ii. sig. H3, This *Quince-Marmalade Was of my owne making. 1663 Boyle Usef. Exp. Nat. Philos. ii. i, A kinde of jelly, in colour and consistence not unlike quince marmalade. 1728 E. Smith Compleat Housewife (ed. 2) 190 (heading) To make white Quince Marmalade. 1832 L. M. Child Amer. Frugal Housewife 118 Quince Marmalade.—To two pounds of quince put three quarters of a pound of nice sugar. 1963 A. L. Simon Guide Good Food & Wines (rev. ed.) iv. 292/1 Its name in Portuguese—Marmelo—is the origin of the name Marmalade, which was at first applied to no other but Quince Marmalade. |
| 1664 Evelyn Kal. Hort. (1729) 213 Roman Peach, Man Peach, *Quince Peach. |
| 1552 Huloet, *Quince peare, cidonium. 1596 P. Barrough Meth. Physick (ed. 3) 436 The iuice of quince peares and pomegranates. 1620 Venner Via Recta vii. 111 Quince-Peares are of a very hard and wooddish substance. |
| 1608 R. Armin Nest Ninn. (1842) 13 Hee tolde them it was a *quince pie. |
| 1723 J. Nott Cook's & Confectioner's Dict. sig. Ee 6 (heading) To make a *quince pudding. |
| 1706 London & Wise Retir'd Gard'ner I. ii. xii. 160 You would graft a Pear-tree upon a *Quince-stock. |
| 1845 Browning Flight of Duchess xi, Her cheek..whitened thro' all its *quince-tinct. |
| c 1325 Gloss. W. de Bibbesw. in Wright Voc. 163 A coyn-tre (*quince-tre), coigner. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xvii. cxlviii. (MS. e Museo 16), Storax..is a tre of Arabia liche to a quynce tree. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 420/1 Quencetree, coctonus. 1707 Curios. in H. & Gard. 197 Vines, Fig-trees, Quince-Trees. 1837 Browning Strafford v. ii, Under a quince-tree by a fishpond side. |
| 1706 E. Baynard in Sir J. Floyer Hot & Cold Bath. ii. 239 Hey! for Lime⁓water, *Quince-wine. |
| 1885 A. Brassey The Trades 201 The principal exports..are logwood..and *quince wood. |
▪ II. quince variant of
quinch v.