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quince

Pronunciation: /kwɪns/

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Definition of quince

noun

1a hard, acid pear-shaped fruit used in preserves or as flavouring: [as modifier]:quince jelly

2the shrub or small tree which bears quinces, native to western Asia.
- Cydonia oblonga, family Rosaceae
(Japanese quince)another term for japonica.

Origin:

Middle English (originally a collective plural): from Old French cooin, from Latin (malum) cotoneum, variant of (malum) cydonium 'apple of Cydonia (= Chania, in Crete)'