esculent

English

WOTD – 16 October 2021

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin ēsculentus (“fit for eating, eatable, edible; good to eat, delicious; nourishing; full of food”) + English -ent (suffix forming adjectives with the sense of causing, doing, or promoting a certain action). Ēsculentus is derived from ēsca (“food; dish prepared for the table; bait”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁ed- (“to eat”)) + -ulentus (suffix meaning ‘abounding in, full of’ forming adjectives).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈɛskjʊlənt/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈɛskjələnt/
• Hyphenation: es‧cul‧ent

Adjective

esculent (comparative more esculent, superlative most esculent) (formal)

1. Suitable for eating; eatable, edible.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:edible

   Antonyms: inesculent; see also Thesaurus:inedible

   Coordinate terms: drinkable, (obsolete) poculent, potable

   • 1629, Thycydides, “The Fourth Booke”, in Thomas Hobbes, transl., Eight Bookes of the Peloponnesian Warre […], London: […] [Eliot’s Court Press] for Richard Mynne […], published 1634, →OCLC, page 226:

     [T]he Lacedæmonians, […] had proclaimed that any man that would, ſhould carry in Meale, Wine, Cheeſe, and all other eſculents neceſſary for a Siege, into the Iland, appointing for the ſame a great reward of ſiluer: […]

   • 1664, J[ohn] E[velyn], “Kalendarium Hortense: Or, The Gard’ners Almanac; […] [September.]”, in Sylva, or A Discourse of Forest-trees and the Propagation of Timber in His Majesties Dominions. […], London: […] Jo[hn] Martyn, and Ja[mes] Allestry, printers to the Royal Society, […], →OCLC, page 74:

     Now may you Tranſplant moſt ſorts of Eſculent, or Phyſical plants, &c.

   • 1668, John Wilkins, “Of Exanguious Animals”, in An Essay towards a Real Character, and a Philosophical Language, London: […] Sa[muel] Gellibrand, and for John Martyn printer to the Royal Society, →OCLC, part II, page 131:

     BLUBBER. […] either that which is of various figures, being covered with a hard callous skin, conteining an eſculent pulpy ſubstance: or that which is of a fleſhly conſiſtence, having no hard skin, being of various ſhapes and bigneſſes, ſome of them ſtinging the hand upon the touch.

   • 1775, William Cullen, “Mushrooms”, in Lectures on the Materia Medica, as Delivered by William Cullen, M.D. […], Philadelphia, Pa.: […] Robert Bell, […], →OCLC, page 68:

     [M]oſt of the fungi are indeed of a hurtful quality, and with reſpect to the whole tribe the eſculent are very few. Eſculent muſhrooms are very nutritive, very readily alcaleſcent, and more ſo without intermediate aceſcency than any other vegetable; […]

   • 1855 July 4, Walt Whitman, “[Song of Myself]”, in Leaves of Grass, Brooklyn, New York, N.Y.: [James and Andrew Rome], →OCLC, page 34:

     I find I incorporate gneiss and coal and long-threaded moss and fruits and grains and esculent roots, / And am stucco'd with quadrupeds and birds all over, / And have distanced what is behind me for good reasons, / And call any thing close again when I desire it.

   • 1859 November 24, Charles Darwin, “Variation under Domestication”, in On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, […], London: John Murray, […], →OCLC, page 15:

     [T]o assert that we could not breed our cart and race-horses, long and short-horned cattle, and poultry of various breeds, and esculent vegetables, for almost an infinite number of generations, would be opposed to all experience.

   • 1992, W. Harris, P[eter] B[rian] Heenan, “Domestication of the New Zealand Flora—an Alternative View”, in Sandra Stanislawek, editor, New Zealand Journal of Crop and Horticultural Science, volume 20, number 3, Wellington: Scientific and Industrial Research Publishing of New Zealand, Royal Society of New Zealand, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 257, column 1:

     Biogeographical factors, particularly the absence of an indigenous land mammal fauna and a mild oceanic climate, are suggested as the reasons why the New Zealand flora has not provided significant esculent plants.

   • 2004, Michael Walter Charney, “Esculent Bird’s Nest, Tin, and Fish: The Overseas Chinese and Their Trade in the Eastern Bay of Bengal (Coastal Burma) during the First Half of the Nineteenth Century”, in Wang Gungwu, Ng Chin-keong, editors, Maritime China in Transition 1750–1850 (South China and Maritime Asia; 12), Wiesbaden, Hesse: Harrassowitz Verlag, →ISBN, →ISSN, page 248:

     From the early 1820s, evidence emerges for Chinese activities in coastal Burma's esculent bird's nest trade. Swallows along the Burmese coasts, as elsewhere, made these edible nests in rocky crags, often on hilly islands (especially available in the Mergui Archipelago and the Tavoy Islands). Made of a glutinous secretion from the bird, these translucent nests would then be gathered and sold for shipment to Chinese markets, where they were considered a tasty delicacy.

   • 2016, Marta McDowell, “Gentleman’s Occupation: 1810s–1830s”, in All the Presidents’ Gardens: Madison’s Cabbages to Kennedy’s Roses—How the White House Grounds Have Grown with America, Portland, Or.: Timber Press, →ISBN, page 76:

     But beyond plants esculent and floral, John Quincey Adams favored trees.

2. (figuratively) “Good enough to eat”; attractive.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:beautiful

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:ugly

   • 1976, Geoffrey Wolff, chapter 9, in Black Sun: The Brief Transit and Violent Eclipse of Harry Crosby, New York, N.Y.: Random House, →ISBN, page 142:

     [H]ow could she have known that Harry had written in his notebook, shortly before he encountered her comely, esculent self, "Better that her neck should bear the traces of my loving teeth"? Better than what? One is afraid to ask.

   • 1979, Kyril Bonfiglioli, “After You with the Pistol”, in The Mortdecai Trilogy, London: Penguin Books, published 2001, →ISBN, page 334:

     My custodian was now the 'Old Bill', the magistrate was one of those soppy, earnest chaps who long to hear of broken homes and deprived childhoods and Johanna was looking esculent in a cinnamon sheath such as you could not buy with a lifetime's trading-stamps.

Derived terms

• esculentin
• esculent swallow
• inesculent

Translations

suitable for eating — see also edible

• French: esculent (fr) (rare)
• Italian: esculento
• Latin: ēsculentus

attractive — see attractive

Noun

esculent (plural esculents) (formal)

1. Something edible, especially a vegetable; a comestible.

   Synonyms: eatable, edible, (archaic) victual; see also Thesaurus:food

   Coordinate terms: drinkable, (obsolete) poculent, potable

   • 1625 (date written), Philip Massinger, A New Way to Pay Old Debts: A Comœdie […], London: […] E[lizabeth] P[urslowe] for Henry Seyle, […], published 1633, →OCLC, Act IV, scene ii:

     Thou neuer hadſt in thy houſe to ſtay mens ſtomackes / A peece of Suffolke cheeſe, or Gammon of Bacon, / Or any eſculent, as the learned call it, / For their emolument, but ſheere drinke only.

   • 1631, Francis [Bacon], “V. Century. [Experiments in Consort, Touching the Melioration of Fruits, Trees, and Plants.]”, in Sylua Syluarum: Or A Naturall Historie. In Ten Centuries. […], 3rd edition, London: […] William Rawley […]; [p]rinted by J[ohn] H[aviland] for William Lee […], →OCLC, paragraph 474, page 118:

     [T]here is a double Vſe of this Cutting off the Leaues: For in Plants, where the Root is the Eſculent, as Radiſh, and Parſnips, it will make the Root the greater: And ſo it will doe to the Heads of Onions. And where the Fruit is the Eſculent, by Strengthening the Root, it will make the Fruit alſo the greater.

   • 1642, Richard Montagu, “The Jewish State in Spirituals. Their Sundry Heresies.”, in The Acts and Monuments of the Church before Christ Incarnate, London: […] Miles Flesher and Robert Young, →OCLC, paragraph 110, page 449:

     They [the Essenes] faſted from meats, not only fleſh, but fiſh, and all other eſculents, but onely ſalt, bread, and herbs; but held not thoſe other meats unlawfull to bee eaten, from which they faſted.

   • 1705 February 14, Edward Baynard, “To Dr. Edward Baynard”, in John Floyer, Edward Baynard, ΨΥΧΡΟΛΟΥΣΊΑ [Psychrolousía]: Or, The History of Cold-bathing, Both Ancient and Modern. […], 6th edition, London: […] W. Innys and R. Manby, […], published 1732, →OCLC, part II, page 329:

     I am of the Opinion that Man is not a drinking (becauſe not a carnivorous) Animal, at leaſt no more than a Rabbet, or Sheep, forc'd to it when the Graſs is Sunburnt, parch'd and dry; for if we liv'd as did the Antediluvians, on Fruits, Roots and Herbs, &c. thoſe Eſculents had Moiſture and Succulency enough to abate, (or rather to prevent) Thirſt.

   • 1843, J[ohn] W[hitchurch] Bennett, chapter XVIII, in Ceylon and Its Capabilities; an Account of Its Natural Resources, Indigenous Productions, and Commercial Facilities; […], London: W[illia]m H. Allen and Co., […], published 1998, →OCLC, pages 148–149:

     The Brinjal (Solanum Melongena, L.) includes the Egg-shaped, Green, and Purple varieties, and is so generally esteemed, throughout India, among the very best of table esculents, that no description of mine can add to its praise. […] Nevertheless, this nutritious esculent, although everywhere plentiful in Spain and Portugal, is never to be procured, except of the egg variety, in Covent Garden or other English markets, and then only in flower-pots;—this is the more strange, because the numerous families from the East and West Indies, would ensure a profitable sale of it, by the speculative gardener.

   • 1997, Thomas Pynchon, chapter 35, in Mason & Dixon, New York, N.Y.: Henry Holt and Company, →ISBN, part 2 (America), page 360:

     Meanwhile, maize and morning glories, tomatoes and cherry trees, every flower and Esculent known to [Carl] Linnæus, thriv'd.

   • 2010, Verena Winiwarter, “The Art of Making the Earth Fruitful: Medieval and Early Modern Improvements of Soil Fertility”, in Scott G[ordon] Bruce, editor, Ecologies and Economies in Medieval and Early Modern Europe: Studies in Environmental History for Richard C. Hoffmann (Brill’s Series in the History of the Environment; 1), Leiden, Boston, Mass.: Brill, →ISBN, →ISSN, part 1 (Premodern People and the Natural World), page 104:

     Earth that opens in chasms is altogether useless; and that which is rough can neither support the plants, nor does it afford the circulation of water. Some rough and sandy situations are well adapted to esculents, nonetheless. These soils have plenty of nutritive mould, by which the roots are nourished.

2. (mycology, specifically) An edible mushroom.
   • 1887 January, W. G. S., “Text-book of British Fungi. By W. De Lisle Hay [i.e., William Delisle Hay], F.R.G.S. Swan Sonnenschein, Lowrey & Co. [book review]”, in James Britten, editor, The Journal of Botany, British and Foreign, volume XXV, London: West, Newman & Co., […], →OCLC, page 121:

     In a raw state, a piece the size of a pea of either of the three fungi above-mentioned, if placed on the tongue, would cause intolerable agony. Possibly if well cooked some of the poisonous principles might vanish, but we question whether such species should be mentioned amongst esculents in a popular book, simply because a wild "Russian" could eat some of the plants mentioned, possibly to the accompaniment of a draught of rancid train-oil. Some of the so-called esculents are tough subjects, as Polysporus squamosus and P. fomentarius; we venture to say that if anyone should succeed in getting a slice of the first into his inside it would be a matter of surprise to his friends if he ever got a slice of anything else in.

   • 2015, Vera Stucky Evenson, Denver Botanic Gardens, Mushrooms of the Rocky Mountain Region: Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming, Portland, Or.: Timber Press, →ISBN:

     [Morchella] esculentoides [is] similar to Morchella esculenta, a European esculent, whose name, appropriately, means "edible".

Translations

something edible — see also comestible

edible mushroom

• German: Speisepilz (de) m

See also

• esurient

Anagrams

• Lucentes, unselect