whimberry
English
editAlternative forms
editEtymology
editFrom earlier winberry, apparently a variant of wineberry (Middle English winberie) with regular shortening of the first vowel before a consonant cluster; in wineberry, this was prevented or reversed due to analogy.
The assimilation of /nb/ to /mb/ seen in some forms is to be expected (compare hemp < Old English henep). Other forms show the influence of unrelated words; the consonantism of forms with initial wh- is probably due to the influence of whin, while windberry clearly represents remodelling as wind + berry.
Pronunciation
edit- IPA(key): /ˈʍɪmˌbɛɹi/, /ˈʍɪmbəɹi/
Audio (Southern England): (file) - (wine–whine merger) IPA(key): /ˈwɪmˌbɛɹi/, /ˈwɪmbəɹi/
Noun
editwhimberry (plural whimberries)
- (dialectal) The bilberry or whortleberry (Vaccinium myrtillus).
- 1871, C. S. Gregson, “Varieties and Aberrations of Lepidoptera”, in Edward Newman, editor, The Entomologist[1], volume V, London: Simpkin, Marshall, & Co., page 75:
- Another variable species: when fed upon whimberry or cowberry it is a most distinct-looking insect, often with the white patches placed in a triangle, one on the disk, one on the hind margin, and the usual one: no band.
- 1900, Helen Brierley, Morgan Brierley, a Memoir: With a Selection from His Writings[2], Rochdale: James Clegg, page 260:
- The lovely pink bloom of the whimberry stalk drops on the turf as the inner part knits itself into hard, green, beady fruit, whilst the leafage changes from a soft green to yellowish brown.
References
edit- James A. H. Murray et al., editors (1884–1928), “Whimberry”, in A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles (Oxford English Dictionary), volume X, Part 2 (V–Z), London: Clarendon Press, →OCLC, page 49, column 1.
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- en:Berries
- en:Blueberry tribe plants