Etymology

quince

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Today it means: The pear-shaped fruit of a small tree of the rose family, Cydonia oblonga. Full definition →

Middle English quynce ← Old French cooing ← Latin cotōneum
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quince · noun1

  1. Ancient Greekμῆλον (mêlon)
  2. Proto-Hellenic*kûdos
  3. Proto-Hellenic*Kúdōn
  4. Proto-Hellenic*Kudōníya
  5. Proto-Hellenic*Kudṓniyos
  6. Ancient GreekΚυδώνιος (Kudṓnios)
  7. Ancient Greekμῆλον Κυδώνιον (mêlon Kudṓnion)ellip.
  8. Ancient Greekκυδώνιον (kudṓnion)
  9. Latincotōneum
  10. Old Frenchcodoin
  11. Old Frenchcooing
  12. Middle Englishcoyn
  13. Middle Englishcoyns
  14. Middle Englishquynce
  15. English todayquince

From Middle English quynce, coince, a variant of coins, coin (“quince”), from Old French cooing (modern coing), from Late Latin cotōneum, from Latin mālum cotōneum, a variant of mālum Cydonium (“Cydonian apple”), translating Ancient Greek μηλοκυδώνιον (mēlokudṓnion).

quince · noun2

Clipping of quinceañera.

Quince · proper noun3

Probably a topographic surname for someone who lived by a quince tree or a metonymic occupational surname for a grower or seller of quinces.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.