Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Any of various semiparasitic plants of the order Santalales that grow on the branches of other plants, especially Viscum album of Eurasia and Phoradendron leucarpum of North America, both of which have leathery evergreen leaves and waxy white berries. Extracts of the Eurasian species are sometimes used for medicinal purposes.
  • noun A sprig of mistletoe, often used as a Christmas decoration.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A European plant, Viscum album, of the natural order Loranthaceæ, growing parasitically on various trees.
  • noun A plant of some other species of Viscum, or of one of the genera Loranthus, Phoradendron, and Arceuthobium, their species almost all having the same parasitic habit.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Bot.) A parasitic evergreen plant of Europe (Viscum album), bearing a glutinous fruit. When found upon the oak, where it is rare, it was an object of superstitious regard among the Druids. A bird lime is prepared from its fruit.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Any of several parasitic evergreen plants with white berries that grow in the crowns of oaks, apple trees and other trees.
  • noun A sprig of these plants used as a Christmas decoration.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun shrub of central and southeastern Europe; partially parasitic on beeches, chestnuts and oaks
  • noun American plants closely resembling Old World mistletoe
  • noun Old World parasitic shrub having branching greenish stems with leathery leaves and waxy white glutinous berries; the traditional mistletoe of Christmas

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English mistelto, back-formation from Old English misteltān (tān, taken for pl. of , toe) : mistel, mistletoe; see meigh- in Indo-European roots + tān, twig.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Old English misteltān, from mistel ‘mistletoe’ + tān ‘twig’. Compare mistle.

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word mistletoe.

Examples

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • Not a total WeirdNet paradox, but close enough.

    December 21, 2008

  • It just occurs to me that this word might fit in well at: An Arsenal for Civil Defunse. No?

    December 21, 2008

  • I think so, if it's spelled "missiletoe"! (tee hee...)

    December 22, 2008

  • December 13, 2010

  • In reference to the cartoon Prolagus posted previously, see the Hodr definition.

    December 16, 2010