juniper

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See also: Juniper

English[edit]

The berry-like cones and leaves of a juniper

Etymology[edit]

From Late Middle English junyper, juniperus, from Latin iūniperus (“juniper-tree”).

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

juniper (countable and uncountable, plural junipers)

  1. Any shrub or tree of the genus Juniperus of the cypress family, which is characterized by pointed, needle-like leaves and aromatic berry-like cones.
    • 1895, J[ohn] W[esley] Powell, chapter I, in Canyons of the Colorado, Meadville, PA: Flood & Vincent; republished as The Exploration of the Colorado River and Its Canyons, New York: Dover, 1961, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 22:
      On the mountains a few junipers and piñons are found, and cactuses, agave, and yuccas, low, fleshy plants with bayonets and thorns.
    • 1940, Rosetta E. Clarkson, Green Enchantments: The Magic Spell of Gardens, The Macmillan Company, page 273:
      Have a tree or two the witches particularly like, such as the alder, larch, cypress and hemlock; then, to counteract any possible evil effects, there must be a holly, yew, hazel, elder, mountain ash or juniper.
    • 1962, Simone de Beauvoir, translated by Peter Green, The Prime of Life, Cleveland, OH: The World Publishing Company, translation of La Force de l'âge, →OCLC, page 77:
      Sometimes I lost track of them and had to hunt round in a circle, thrusting through sharp-scented bushes, scratching myself on various plants which were still new to me: resinaceous rock-roses, juniper [translating genévriers], ilex, yellow and white asphodel.
    • 2006, Edwin Black, chapter 2, in Internal Combustion, →OL:
      One typical Grecian kiln engorged one thousand muleloads of juniper wood in a single burn. Fifty such kilns would devour six thousand metric tons of trees and brush annually.
  2. One of a number of coniferous trees which resemble junipers.
  3. (UK, slang, archaic) Gin.
    • 1834, Young Hearts: A Novel by a Recluse. With a Preface by Miss Jane Porter, page 106:
      […] I said you didn't like them ere strong liquors, but if he warn't particular, I was sure you would pledge him in a glass of juniper, for I had always made you, since we had been man and vife[sic], take a drop afore you went to market, to keep cold out.

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Middle English[edit]

Noun[edit]

juniper

  1. Alternative form of junyper
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