prune

English

Alternative forms

• proin (obsolete)

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /pɹuːn/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /pɹun/
• (General Australian) IPA^(key): /pɹʉːn/
• (Wales, Ottawa Valley) IPA^(key): /pɹɪu̯n/

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -uːn

Etymology 1

From Middle English prune, from Old French prune, from Vulgar Latin *prūna, feminine singular formed from the neutral plural of Latin prūnum, from Ancient Greek προῦνον (proûnon), variant of προῦμνον (proûmnon, “plum”), a loanword from a language of Asia Minor. Doublet of plum.

Noun

prune (plural prunes)

1. (obsolete) A plum.
2. The dried, wrinkled fruit of certain species of plum.

   Hyponym: alubukhara

3. (figurative) Something wrinkly like a prune.
   • 1970, Dana Densmore, “Without You And Within You”, in No More Fun & Games, volume 4, page 55:

     We are not free when we are in the grip of the false conditioning that decrees that we need sex. We are not free if we believe the culture's ominous warnings that we will become "horny" (what a callous, offensive word) and frustrated and neurotic and finally shrivel up into prunes and have to abandon hope of being good, creative, effective people.

4. (slang) An old woman, especially a wrinkly one.

Synonyms

• see Thesaurus:old woman

Hypernyms

• fruit

Derived terms

• German prune (Prunus domestica subsp. domestica)
• mirabelle prune
• prune belly syndrome
• prune plum (Prunus domestica subsp. domestica)
• prune tree
• pruney
• South African prune (Pappea capensis)

 

Translations

plum — see plum

dried plum

• Arabic: أَجَاص (ʔajāṣ), عَوِينَة f (ʕawīna), عَوِينَة مُجَفَّفَة f (ʕawīna(t) mujaffafa), خَوْخ مُجَفَّف (ḵawḵ mujaffaf)
• Armenian: սալորաչիր (hy) (saloračʻir)
• Bulgarian: сушена слива (sušena sliva)
• Catalan: pruna seca f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 李子乾／李子干 (lǐzigān), 西梅乾／西梅干 (xīméigān), 乾梅子／干梅子 (zh) (gānméizi), 梅乾／梅干 (zh) (mēigān)

• Czech: sušená švestka f
• Danish: sveske c
• Esperanto: sekigita pruno
• Finnish: kuivattu luumu
• French: pruneau (fr) m
• Galician: ameixa secada f
• Georgian: please add this translation if you can
• German: Backpflaume (de) f, Trockenpflaume f, Dörrpflaume (de) f
• Hungarian: aszalt szilva (hu)
• Icelandic: sveskja f
• Irish: prúna m
• Italian: prugna secca f
• Japanese: プルーン (ja) (purūn), 西洋李 (せいようすもも, seiyō sumomo)
• Korean: 말린 자두 (mallin jadu)
• Macedonian: сува слива f (suva sliva)
• Maori: paramu menge, purunu
• Middle English: prune
• Navajo: chʼil naʼatłʼoʼiitsoh
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: sviske (no) m or f

  Nynorsk: sviske f

• Polish: suszona śliwka f
• Portuguese: ameixa seca f
• Romanian: prună uscată f
• Russian: черносли́в (ru) m (černoslív)
• Scottish Gaelic: prùn m, searg m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: сува шљива f

  Roman: suva šljiva f

• Slovak: sušená slivka f
• Slovene: suha sliva f
• Spanish: ciruela pasa f, pruna seca f, guindón m (Peru)
• Swedish: katrinplommon (sv) n, sviskon (sv) n
• Turkish: kuru erik (tr)
• Ukrainian: чорно́слив m (čornóslyv)
• Walloon: caetche (wa) f, pronne (wa) f, purnea (wa) m
• Yup'ik: isuumaq

old woman

• Dutch: besje (nl) n
• Portuguese: maracujá de gaveta (pt) m
• Turkish: muşmula (tr), muşmula suratlı
• Walloon: caetche (wa) f

Verb

prune (third-person singular simple present prunes, present participle pruning, simple past and past participle pruned)

1. (intransitive, informal) To become wrinkled like a dried plum, as the fingers and toes do when kept submerged in water.
   • 2005, Alycia Ripley, Traveling with an Eggplant, page 111:

     I hardly left that spot in my pool that month even when my fingers pruned and chlorine dried out my skin.

Etymology 2

From Middle English prunen, prounen, proinen, from Old French proignier (“to trim the feathers with the beak”), earlier prooignier, ultimately from Latin pro- ("front") + rotundus (“round”) 'to round-off the front'.

Verb

prune (third-person singular simple present prunes, present participle pruning, simple past and past participle pruned)

1. (transitive, horticulture) To remove excess material from a tree or shrub; to trim, especially to make more healthy or productive.

   A good grape grower will prune the vines once a year.

   • c. 1598–1600 (date written), William Shakespeare, “As You Like It”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene iii], page 191:

     But poore old man, thou prun'ſt a rotten tree, / That cannot ſo much as a bloſſome yeelde

   • 1667, John Milton, “Book IV”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:

     Our delightful task / To prune these growing plants, and tend these flowers.

2. (transitive, figuratively) To cut down or shorten (by the removal of unnecessary material).

   to prune a budget, or an essay

   • 1605, Francis Bacon, “(please specify |book=1 or 2)”, in The Twoo Bookes of Francis Bacon. Of the Proficience and Aduancement of Learning, Diuine and Humane, London: […] [Thomas Purfoot and Thomas Creede] for Henrie Tomes, […], →OCLC:

     taking into consideration how they [laws] are to be pruned and reformed

3. (transitive) To remove (something unnecessary) for the sake of cutting down or shortening that which it was previously part of.
   • 1990, Wayne Jancik, The Billboard Book of One-Hit Wonders, →ISBN, page 229:

     When internal dissension and a decline in popularity set in, Johnny was pruned from the Crests.

4. (transitive, computer science) To remove unnecessary branches from a tree data structure.
5. (obsolete) To preen; to prepare; to dress.
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto III”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:

     She gins her feathers fowle disfigured
     Prowdly to prune, and sett on every side.

   • 1677 (first performance), John Dryden, “Epilogue”, in All for Love: Or, The World Well Lost. A Tragedy, […], [London]: […] Tho[mas] Newcomb, for Henry Herringman, […], published 1678, →OCLC:

     For 'tis observed of every scribbling man, / He grows a fop as fast as e'er he can; / Prunes up, and asks his oracle, the glass, / If pink or purple best become his face.

Derived terms

• pruning
• alpha-beta pruning ^en

Translations

trim a tree or shrub

• Arabic: شَذَبَ (šaḏaba), قَضَبَ (qaḍaba), قَلَمَ (ar) (qalama), هَذَّبَ (haḏḏaba), نَقَحَ (naqaḥa)
• Assamese: ডল (dol)
• Azerbaijani: qırpmaq
• Basque: adaburutu
• Bulgarian: кастря (bg) (kastrja), подрязвам (bg) (podrjazvam)
• Catalan: podar (ca), esporgar (ca)
• Czech: prořezat impf, prostříhat impf
• Dalmatian: potuor
• Dutch: snoeien (nl)
• Finnish: karsia (fi), oksia (fi), vesoa (fi)
• French: élaguer (fr), émonder (fr), tailler (fr)
• Friulian: cerpî
• Galician: podar (gl), espolar (gl), cepar (gl)
• Gallo: émonder
• German: stutzen (de) (also: zurecht-, zurück-), schneiden (de) (also: be-, zurück-)
• Greek: κλαδεύω (el) (kladévo)
• Hebrew: זָמַר (he) (zamár)
• Irish: meang, sciot
• Italian: potare (it), ridurre (it), sfoltire (it)
• Latin: pampinō
• Norman: êmonder (Jersey)
• Norwegian: kviste

  Bokmål: beskjære

• Occitan: podar (oc)
• Persian: هرس کردن (haras kardan), خشاوه کردن (xašâve kardan)
• Portuguese: podar (pt)
• Quechua: ch'aphranay
• Romanian: curăță, emonda
• Romansch: tagliar giu, tschancunar
• Russian: прореживать (ru) (proreživatʹ)
• Sardinian: pudai, pudare, putare
• Scottish Gaelic: bàrr, beàrr, sgud, sgath, meidh, teasg
• Spanish: podar (es)
• Swedish: ansa (sv), beskära (sv), tukta (sv), trimma (sv)
• Welsh: tocio

(figuratively) cut down or shorten

• Bulgarian: съкращавам (bg) (sǎkraštavam)
• Dutch: inkorten (nl), snoeien (nl)
• Finnish: karsia (fi)
• German: kürzen (de)
• Hebrew: קִנֵּב (he) (qinnév)
• Ido: rekortar (io)
• Italian: accorciare (it), ridurre (it)
• Macedonian: ка́стри (kástri)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: beskjære

• Portuguese: podar (pt)
• Spanish: podar (es)
• Swedish: skära ner

Anagrams

• Perun, unrep

French

Etymology

Inherited from Old French prune, from Vulgar Latin *prūna, feminine singular formed from the neutral plural of Latin prūnum, from Ancient Greek προῦμνον (proûmnon).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pʁyn/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

prune f (plural prunes)

1. plum
2. (slang) ticket (“traffic citation”)

Derived terms

• pour des prunes
• pruneau
• prunier

 

Further reading

• “prune”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Latin

Noun

prūne

1. vocative singular of prūnus

Middle English

Alternative forms

• pruna

Etymology

Borrowed from Old French prune, from Vulgar Latin *prūna, from Latin prūnum, from Ancient Greek προῦνον (proûnon), προῦμνον (proûmnon). Doublet of plomme.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpriu̯n(ə)/

Noun

prune (plural prunes)

1. A plum (fruit of Prunus domestica)
2. A prune (dried plum)
3. (pathology) A large, rounded boil.

Descendants

• English: prune

References

• “prūne, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2019-05-26.

Old French

Etymology

From Vulgar Latin *prūna, feminine singular formed from the neutral plural of Latin prūnum.

Noun

prune oblique singular, f (oblique plural prunes, nominative singular prune, nominative plural prunes)

1. plum (fruit)

Descendants

• French: prune
• Norman: preune
• Walloon: pronne
• → Middle English: prune, pruna
  • English: prune

Romanian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpru.ne/

Noun

prune

1. plural of prună