open-ers

open-ers

Middle English

Alternative forms

• openers, hopynhars, opyn-herse

Etymology

From Old English openears; equivalent to open +‎ ers.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɔːpənɛrs/, /ˈɔːpənars/

Noun

open-ers (plural open-erses) (rare)

1. The fruit of the common medlar (Crataegus germanica, syn. Mespilus germanica)
   • c. 1390, Geoffrey Chaucer, ‘Reeve's Prologue’, Canterbury Tales (Ellesmere manuscript):

     But if I fare as dooth an Openers / That ilke fruyt is euer leng the wers / Til it be roten in Mullok or in stree [...].

Descendants

• English: open-arse

References

• “ō̆pen-ars, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2019-05-19.