Hazel

[hey-zuh l] /ˈheɪ zəl/

noun
1.
any shrub or small tree belonging to the genus Corylus, of the birch family, having toothed, ovate leaves and bearing edible nuts, as C. avellana, of Europe, or C. americana and C. cornuta, of the Western Hemisphere.
2.
any of several other shrubs or trees, as an Australian shrub, Pomaderris apetala.
3.
the wood of any of these trees.
4.
the hazelnut or filbert.
5.
light golden brown, as the color of a hazelnut.
adjective
6.
of or relating to the hazel.
7.
made of the wood of the hazel.
8.
having a light golden-brown color.
[hey-zuh l] /ˈheɪ zəl/
noun
1.
a female given name.
/ˈheɪzəl/
noun
1.
Also called cob. any of several shrubs of the N temperate genus Corylus, esp C. avellana, having oval serrated leaves and edible rounded brown nuts: family Corylaceae
2.
the wood of any of these trees
3.
short for hazelnut
4.

n.

Old English hæsl, hæsel, from Proto-Germanic *hasalaz (cf. Old Norse hasl, Middle Dutch hasel, German hasel), from PIE *koselo- “hazel” (cf. Latin corulus, Old Irish coll “hazel”). Shakespeare (“Romeo and Juliet,” 1592) was first to use it (in print) in the sense of “reddish-brown color of eyes” (in reference to the color of ripe hazel-nuts), when Mercutio accuses Benvolio of being testy with:

Thou wilt quarrell with a man for cracking Nuts, hauing no reason, but because thou hast hasell eyes.

Heb. luz, (Gen. 30:37), a nutbearing tree. The Hebrew word is rendered in the Vulgate by amygdalinus, “the almond-tree,” which is probably correct. That tree flourishes in Syria.