bayberry

noun

Etymology: Etymology tree Proto-Germanic *bazją Proto-West Germanic *baʀi Old English berġe? Old English beġerclip.? Old English *beġ Latin bācader. Old French baieder. Middle English baye English bay Middle English berye English berry English bayberry From bay + berry.

1. The fruit of the wax myrtle shrub; or the plant itself (Morella cerifera), with aromatic, leathery leaves and waxy berries.

   “It twisted and turned, and, the first thing I knew, made a sudden bend around a bunch of bayberry scrub and opened out into a big clear space like a lawn.”

2. The fruit of the wax myrtle shrub; or the plant itself (Morella cerifera), with aromatic, leathery leaves and waxy berries.

   “The two North American genera are Myrica (bayberry) and Comptonia (sweet-fern).”

3. The fruit of the bay laurel (Laurus nobilis).

   “[T]heir shape was much like a Figg, but very much smaller, some being about the bigness of a Bay-berry, others, and the biggest, of a Hazel-Nut.”

4. West Indian bay tree (Pimenta racemosa), a tropical American shrub with aromatic leaves that are used in the preparation of bay rum.