evergreen, a. and n.
(ˈɛvəˌgriːn)
[f. ever adv. + green.]
A. adj.
1. Always green.
| [1555 Eden Decades 196 Certeyne trees which contynewe euer greene and neuer lose theyr leaues.] 1796 H. Hunter tr. St. Pierre's Stud. Nat. (1799) III. 409 Magnificent coursers pasture..in the ever-green valleys. 1860 Maury Phys. Geog. Sea x. §462 Were the sea fresh..Ireland would never have presented those ever-green shores. |
b. fig. Always fresh, never-failing.
| 1871 Echo 13 Feb., One could not help being struck with the evergreen good humour of the French. |
2. Of trees, shrubs, etc.: Having green leaves all the year round; opposed to deciduous.
In trees of this kind, the leaves of the past season remain on the tree, until the new ones are completely formed, as in the holly, holly-oak, pine, etc.
| 1671 Milton Samson 1735 Shade Of laurel ever-green, and branching palm. 1712 J. James tr. Le Blond's Gardening 186 When your Ever-green Trees and Shrubs are got to some Height. 1845 Florist's Jrnl. 156 It [Arctostaphylos nitida] forms a handsome evergreen shrub five or six feet high. 1884 Bower & Scott De Bary's Phaner. & Ferns 535 The evergreen Jasmines. |
b. Of leaves: Lasting till the next season.
| 1776 Withering Brit. Plants (1796) II. 211 Ilex. Leaves surrounded by a strong woody border; tough, shining, ever⁓green. 1861 Miss Pratt Flower. Pl. III. 357 Leaves, which are often rigid and evergreen. |
B. n.
1. An evergreen tree or shrub. Cf. A. 2.
| 1644 Evelyn Mem. (1857) I. 87 The Isle of Corsica, and St. Remo, where the shore is furnished with evergreens, oranges, citrons, and date-trees. 1676 Grew Anat. Plants iv. i. v. §1 An Evergreen, is one degree above a Plant which is simply Perennial: of This, only the Trunk and Buds live all the Winter; of That, also the Expanded Leaves. a 1711 Ken Hymnotheo Poet. Wks. III. 116 He to a Thicket lead, With ever-greens and downy Moss bespread. 1813 Sir H. Davy Agric. Chem. (1814) 67 The cause of the preservation of the leaves of evergreens through the winter is not accurately known. 1828 Scott Let. Ballantyne Jan., in Lockhart, She has no business in a ball room but to be ranged against the wall as an evergreen. 1848 Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. 162 Christmas had been..the season..when every house was decorated with evergreens. |
| fig. 1878 E. Jenkins Haverholme 98 Lady Willowgrove..was an evergreen. She had been a distinguished figure in society for three generations. |
2. attrib.
| 1825 J. Neal Bro. Jonathan II. 31 The evergreen tribe. 1841 W. Spalding Italy & It. Isl. III. 319 The peculiar tints of the evergreen region disappear. Deciduous oaks and horse-chestnuts become prevalent. |
b. In names of various trees, shrubs, etc., as evergreen alkanet, evergreen magnolia, evergreen spurge laurel; evergreen oak, the Holm Oak (Quercus Ilex).
| a 1682 Sir T. Browne Tracts 62 He found the Ilex, or Evergreen oak in many places. 1861 Miss Pratt Flower. Pl. IV. 51 Evergreen Alkanet..is a stout bristly plant..its leaves are of rich deep green colour. 1867 M. E. Herbert Cradle L. vii. 168 Terebinth or evergreen oak here and there gave a graceful shade. 1882 Garden 8 July 27/3 The Evergreen Magnolia..is too well known to need description. |
Hence ˈevergreenness.
| 1882–3 W. E. Baxter Winter in India vii. 68 The evergreenness of Indian trees is one of the most striking features of the country. |