different between mistletoe vs mistle

English

Etymology

From Middle English mistel-t?, mistelto (“European mistletoe; hardened berries of mistletoe used as beads”), from Old English mistelt?n, mistilt?n, mistil-t?n (“mistletoe”), from mistel (“mistletoe; basil; birdlime”) + t?n (“sprig, twig”) (which was mistaken for the plural of t? (“toe”)), equivalent to mistle +? tan (“twig”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?m?s(?)lt??/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?m?s?l?to?/
• Hyphenation: mis?tle?toe

Noun

mistletoe (countable and uncountable, plural mistletoes)

1. (countable, uncountable) Any of several hemiparasitic evergreen plants of the order Santalales with white berries that grow in the crowns of apple trees, oaks, and other trees, such as the European mistletoe (Viscum album) and American mistletoe or eastern mistletoe (Phoradendron leucarpum).
2. (uncountable) A sprig of one such plant used as a Christmas decoration, associated with the custom that a man may kiss any woman standing beneath it.

Alternative forms

• misleto, miseltoe, misletoe, mistle-toe, misseltoe (all obsolete or archaic)

Synonyms

• miseleden, misselden, misseldine (all obsolete or archaic)

Derived terms

Translations

See also

• mistle thrush
• viscin
• viscivorus
• viscotoxin

References

Further reading

• mistletoe on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?m?s?l/

Etymology 1

From Middle English mistel (“basil; mistletoe”), from Old English mistel (“basil; mistletoe”), from Proto-West Germanic *mistil (“mistle”), from Proto-Germanic *mistilaz (“mistle”).

Noun

mistle (countable and uncountable, plural mistles)

1. (obsolete) mistletoe
2. (countable) the mistle thrush

Etymology 2

Verb

mistle (third-person singular simple present mistles, present participle mistling, simple past and past participle mistled)

1. To fall like a fine rain; to drizzle.

Related terms

• mist

Anagrams

• smilet

Morelos Nahuatl

Noun

mistle

1. puma, cat.