jew's ear
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.03 in modern English
17
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
2
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A kind of edible fungus (Auricularia auricula-judae), growing on tree-trunks, formerly used for medicinal purposes.
Example Sentences
- "Hither also may be referr'd those multitudes and varieties of Mushroms, such as that, call'd Jews-ears, all sorts of gray and green Mosses, &c."
- "Over the hearth hang bunches of drying mushrooms, the thin, curling kind they call jew's-ears, which have grown on the elder trees since Judas hanged himself on one; this is the kind of lore he tells me, tempting my half-belief."
Etymology
A mistranslation of mediaeval Latin auricula Judae (“Judas's ear”), from its shape, and its occurrence on the tree on which Judas Iscariot was supposed to have hanged himself.
Origin
- Source language: Latin