Meanings
plural arbutuses · plural arbuti
- countableuncountableA strawberry tree, any of the flowering plants in the genus Arbutus.
Many nights, though autumnal mists were spread around, I passed under an ilex - many times I have supped on arbutus berries and chestnuts, making a fire, gypsy-like, on the ground […]
1826, [Mary Shelley], chapter X, in The Last Man. […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC - countableuncountableA mayflower or trailing arbutus (Epigaea repens).
1 more example
Ah, who is he,—on whom young men and maidens look with pitying eye? to whom the old man lifts his hat, and little children cease from their sports as he passes, and quietly slip the innocent daisy, or the sweet-scented arbutus into his hand, which they have culled from the wide commons, where, they have been told, the good Sea-flower loved to stray.
1859, Ferna Vale, Natalie; or, A Gem Among the Sea-Weeds - uncountableArbute; wood of strawberry trees.
Synonyms & antonyms
Origin
- Latinarbutus
- taxonomic nameArbutus
- Englisharbutus
From taxonomic name Arbutus, from Latin arbutus.
More words from taxonomic name, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
arbutus. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/arbutus
“arbutus.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/arbutus. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “arbutus,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/arbutus.
Source: arbutus on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.