dwarf elder

3 definitions found

dwarf elder - Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :

  Dwarf \Dwarf\, n.; pl. Dwarfs. [OE. dwergh, dwerf, dwarf, AS.
     dweorg, dweorh; akin to D. dwerg, MHG. twerc, G. zwerg, Icel.
     dvergr, Sw. & Dan. dverg; of unknown origin.]
     1. An animal or plant which is much below the ordinary size
        of its species or kind.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. Especially: A diminutive human being, small in stature due
        to a pathological condition which causes a distortion of
        the proportions of body parts to each other, such as the
        limbs, torso, and head. A person of unusually small height
        who has normal body proportions is usually called a
        midget.
        [PJC]
  
     Note: During the Middle Ages dwarfs as well as fools shared
           the favor of courts and the nobility.
           [1913 Webster]
  
     3. (Folklore) A small, usually misshapen person, typically a
        man, who may have magical powers; mythical dwarves were
        often depicted as living underground in caves.
        [PJC]
  
     Note: Dwarf is used adjectively in reference to anything much
           below the usual or normal size; as, a dwarf pear tree;
           dwarf honeysuckle.
           [1913 Webster]
  
     Dwarf elder (Bot.), danewort.
  
     Dwarf wall (Arch.), a low wall, not as high as the story of
        a building, often used as a garden wall or fence. --Gwilt.
        [1913 Webster]

  Elder \El"der\, n. [OE. ellern, eller, AS. ellen, cf. LG.
     elloorn; perh. akin to OHG. holantar, holuntar, G. holunder;
     or perh. to E. alder, n.] (Bot.)
     A genus of shrubs (Sambucus) having broad umbels of white
     flowers, and small black or red berries.
     [1913 Webster]
  
     Note: The common North American species is Sambucus Canadensis
           ; the common European species (S. nigra)
           forms a small tree. The red-berried elder is S. pubens
           . The berries are diaphoretic and aperient. The
           European elder (Sambucus nigra) is also called the
           elderberry, bourtree, Old World elder, black elder
           , and common elder.
           [1913 Webster + WordNet 1.5]
  
     Box elder. See under 1st Box.
  
     Dwarf elder. See Danewort.
  
     Elder tree. (Bot.) Same as Elder. --Shak.
  
     Marsh elder, the cranberry tree Viburnum Opulus).
        [1913 Webster]

dwarf elder - WordNet (r) 2.1 (2005) :

  dwarf elder
      n 1: dwarf herbaceous elder of Europe having pink flowers and a
           nauseous odor [syn: dwarf elder, danewort, Sambucus ebulus
           ]
      2: bristly herb of eastern and central North America having
         black fruit and medicinal bark [syn: bristly sarsaparilla,
         bristly sarsparilla, dwarf elder, Aralia hispida]