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Glite Dictionary
mayhaw

mayhaw

9.9
A small tree in the southern United States that makes red tart fruit used to make jelly
  • noun
  • /ˈmeɪˌhɔ/
  • US
translation icon : mayhaw
  • I love adding mayhaw jelly to my breakfast toast for a deliciously sweet and tangy taste.

Examples

  • Many people in the South enjoy making jellies from mayhaw fruit, which has a unique tart flavor.

  • Items labeled as Mayhaw and Muscadine Jelly seem to stand out on the shelves.

    Blog text (10)

  • I make fig and mayhaw preserves and green tomato pickles.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • During spring, the mayhaw trees bloom with white flowers, attracting bees and other pollinators.

Synonyms

Crataegus aestivalis
vsmayhaw
  • Specialized
9.9

A small tree from the southern United States that has red, tart fruit used for jam

is the everyday regional name used in normal speech
summer haw
vsmayhaw
  • US
9.9

A tree that makes small red sour fruit used to make jelly

is the formal Latin species name rather than the common name

Surface Forms

mayhaw singular
mayhaws plural

Morphology

mayhaw = May + haw (semi-transparent) = may + haw

Formally a straightforward compound 'May' + 'haw' (the hawthorn fruit associated with May), but 'haw' is an uncommon word so learners may not infer the meaning from parts.

Etymology

Mayhaw comes from the month May plus haw, where haw means 'fruit of the hawthorn'. So a mayhaw is the small red, tart berry of the hawthorn tree picked around May, which is why it is used for jellies and preserves.