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in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
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English
Pronunciation
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 )
( obsolete ) A plum .
The dried, wrinkled fruit of certain species of plum .
Hyponym: alubukhara
( 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.
( slang ) An old woman , especially a wrinkly one.
Synonyms
Hypernyms
Derived terms
Translations
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
Verb
prune (third-person singular simple present prunes , present participle pruning , simple past and past participle pruned )
( 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 )
( 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 Blount , published 1623 , →OCLC , , 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 ; nd by Robert Boulter ; 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.
( transitive , figuratively ) To cut down or shorten (by the removal of unnecessary material).
to prune a budget, or an essay
( 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.
( transitive , computer science ) To remove unnecessary branches from a tree data structure .
( obsolete ) To preen ; to prepare ; to dress .
1677 (first performance), John Dryden , “Epilogue ”, in All for Love: Or, The World Well Lost. A Tragedy, , : Tho 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
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
Anagrams
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
Noun
prune f (plural prunes )
plum
( slang ) ticket ( “ traffic citation ” )
Derived terms
Further reading
Latin
Noun
prūne
vocative singular of prūnus
Middle English
Etymology
Borrowed from Old French prune , from Vulgar Latin *prūna , from Latin prūnum , from Ancient Greek προῦνον ( proûnon ) , προῦμνον ( proûmnon ) . Doublet of plomme .
Pronunciation
Noun
prune (plural prunes )
A plum ( fruit of Prunus domestica )
A prune ( dried plum )
( pathology ) A large, rounded boil.
Descendants
References
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 )
plum ( fruit )
Descendants
Romanian
Pronunciation
Noun
prune
plural of prună