bael, bel
(bɛl)
Also 7 beele, bille, 9 bhel, bēl, bél.
[Hindi bel, Marathi bail:- Skr. bilva, vilva.]
An Indian tree, ægle marmelos, or its aromatic fruit; the Bengal quince. Also, the medicinal extract of the fruit.
| 1618 in Foster Eng. Factories India (1906) 10 Greene ginger, mirabilons, and beeles. 1619 Ibid. 76 Mirabilons and billes in conserves. 1854 Hooker Himal. Jrnl. I. 50 The Bhel fruit, lately introduced into English medical practice, as an astringent of great effect, in cases of diarrhœa and dysentery. 1874 Garrod & Baxter Mat. Med. (ed. 4) 219 Indian bael has obtained much reputation in India in the treatment of diarrhœa and dysentery. 1877 Shunkar Singh & Gunanand tr. Hist. Nepāl 33 Every Newār girl, while a child, is married to a bēl-fruit, which after the ceremony is thrown into some sacred river. 1910 Encycl. Brit. III. 191/1 Bael fruit (Aegle marmelos). 1924 R. E. Enthoven Folklore of Bombay iii. 124 The Palas (Butea frondosa) and the Bel (Aegle Marmelos), a tree sacred to the god Shiva, are considered to be holy by the Hindus. |