What is "cornel"

Cornel \Cor"nel\ (-n?l), n. [OF. cornille, cornoille, F. cornouille, cornel berry, LL. cornolium cornel tree, fr. L. cornus, fr. cornu horn, in allusion to the hardness of the wood. See Horn.]

1. (Bot.) The cornelian cherry ( Cornus Mas), a European shrub with clusters of small, greenish flowers, followed by very acid but edible drupes resembling cherries.

2. Any species of the genus Cornus, as Cornus florida, the flowering cornel; Cornus stolonifera, the osier cornel; Cornus Canadensis, the dwarf cornel, or bunchberry.

a type of tree or shrub with an edible fruit, 1550s, from German cornel-baum, from Old High German cornul, from Medieval Latin cornolium, from French cornouille, from Vulgar Latin *cornuculum, from Latin cornum "cornel-cherry," perhaps related to Greek kerasos "cherry." Old English also had borrowed the Latin word, in corntreow. The plant was noted for its hard wood, which was favored by the ancients for making shafts of spears and arrows.

n. 1 (context botany English) Any tree or shrub of the dogwood subgenera, (taxlink Cornus subg. Chamaepericlymenum subgenus noshow=1) or (taxlink Cornus subg. Cornus subgenus noshow=1), especially ''Cornus mas'', the (vern European cornel pedia=1). 2 The cherry-like fruit of such plants, certain of which are edible.

n. a tree of shrub of the genus Cornus often having showy bracts resembling flowers [syn: dogwood, dogwood tree]

Cornel may refer to:

People:

Several species of the dogwood family:

• Cornus canadensis, Canadian dwarf cornel
• Cornus mas, Cornelian cherry or European cornel
• Cornus officinalis, Japanese cornel or Japanese cornelian cherry
• Cornus suecica, dwarf cornel

Ships:

• HMS Cornel (K-278), a British corvette transferred to the US Navy as USS Alacrity (PG-87)
• USS Cornel (AN-45), a net-laying ship that served in the Pacific theater during World War II