ˈknee-ˌholly
In OE. cnéow-holen.
[f. knee n. (perh. in reference to its height) + holen, holly (as a prickly evergreen).]
A name of Butcher's Broom (Ruscus aculeatus).
| c 1000 Sax. Leechd. I. 162 Wið þone dropan,..ᵹenim tweᵹen scenceas fulle woses ðysse wyrt þe man..cneowholen nemneð. c 1265 Voc. Names Pl. in Wr.-Wülcker 557/33 Frisgonem, i. fresgun, i. cnehole. 1661 Lovell Hist. Anim. & Min. 448 Asparagus, grasse, knee holly, marsh-mallows. 1785 Martyn Rousseau's Bot. xxix. (1794) 461 Butcher's Broom, or Knee Holly, bears its flowers in the middle of the leaves. 1866 Treas. Bot. 999. |