chestnut
Syllables: chest·nutUK/ˈt͡ʃɛs(t)nʌt//ˈt͡ʃɛs(t)ˌnʌt/
chestnut noun: an edible nut (technically a fruit) of the Spanish chestnut or sweet chestnut tree (Castanea sativa); also (chiefly preceded by a descriptive word), a nut from a related shrub or tree; or a similar nut from an unrelated plant. Also the abbreviation of horse chestnut.
Noun
chestnut (countable and uncountable, plural chestnuts)
- An edible nut (technically a fruit) of the Spanish chestnut or sweet chestnut tree (Castanea sativa); also (chiefly preceded by a descriptive word), a nut from a related shrub or tree; or a similar nut from an unrelated plant.
- Of trouth the cheſtain trees brynge forth the ſoft ſwete cheſtnutte out of the ſharpe pricking ⁊ hard huſke.1531 March 20 (date written; Gregorian calendar), [Antonio de Guevara], “Howe the Emperour Reasoned with the Maysters that shulde Lerne His Sonne”, in John Bourcher knyghte Lord Barners [i.e., John...
- The Cheſnut tree, is a very great, high & thicke tree, not much vnlike the Walnut tree. […] amongſt the leaues at the top of yͤ branches grow the Cheſnuttes whiche are browne without, ſomewhat flat almoſt after the faſhion of a hart, and playne and ſmooth polliſhed: they be alſo incloſed in ſhelles...1578, Rembert Dodoens, “Of the Chesnut Tree”, in Henry Lyte, transl., A Niewe Herball, or Historie of Plantes: […], London: […] [Henry [i.e., Hendrik van der] Loë for] Gerard Dewes, […], →OCLC, 6th...
- Synonyms:
- Spanish chestnut, sweet chestnut
- In full chestnut tree: the shrub or tree that bears this nut, the Spanish chestnut or sweet chestnut (Castanea sativa); also (chiefly preceded by a descriptive word), a shrub or tree of the genus Castanea.
- The Cheſnut delighteth in ſhadowie places and mountaynes whoſe ſituation is towardes the North.1578, Rembert Dodoens, “Of the Chesnut Tree”, in Henry Lyte, transl., A Niewe Herball, or Historie of Plantes: […], London: […] [Henry [i.e., Hendrik van der] Loë for] Gerard Dewes, […], →OCLC, 6th...
- The next is the Cheſs-nut [Caſtanea] of vvhich Pliny [the Elder] reckons many kinds, eſpecially that about Tarentum and Naples, but vve commend thoſe of Portugal. […] [M]ay Copſes of Cheſs-nuts be vvonderfully increaſed and thickn'd by laying the tender and young branches; but ſuch as ſpring from...1664, J[ohn] E[velyn], “Of the Cheſs-nut”, in Sylva, or A Discourse of Forest-trees and the Propagation of Timber in His Majesties Dominions. […], London: […] Jo[hn] Martyn, and Ja[mes] Allestry...
- Synonyms:
- Spanish chestnut, sweet chestnut
- Wood of a chestnut tree.
- A dark, reddish-brown colour, like that of chestnut fruit (noun sense 1).
- Roſ[alind]. I'faith his haire is of a good colour. / Cel[ia]. An excellent colour: / Your Cheſſnut vvas euer the onely colour: […]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...
- She can see, by the colour of my beard, that my hair would be a fine chesnut still.1832, [Leigh Hunt], “Introductory Letter of the Author”, in Sir Ralph Esher: or, Adventures of a Gentleman of the Court of Charles II. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, […]...
- A horse with a reddish-brown coat, mane and tail.
- [T]he noble Vice-President of the Club, Lord Carington […] led the way with his chestnuts, having a distinguished brother whip, Lord Londesborough, by his side.1871 August, “‘Our Van.’ The Invoice.—July Jocundities.”, in Baily’s Monthly Magazine of Sports and Pastimes, volume XX, London: A. H. Baily & Co., […], →OCLC, page 308
- Chestnut horses are fidgetty and hot, but seem to have less sense than bay horses, while bay horses, though they are cleverer, are the worst tempered and the most irritable—that is, browns are the soberest, bays are the worst tempered, and chestnuts are the most foolish.1877, George Nevile, “Colour”, in Horses and Riding, London: Longmans, Green, & Co., →OCLC, page 105
- An oval or round horny plate located on the inner side of the leg of a horse or other equines, which is thought by some people to correspond with the thumbnail of other animals.
- Synonyms:
- night eye
- Chiefly in old chestnut: a joke, meme, phrase, ploy, etc. which has been repeated so often as to have grown ineffective or tiresome; a cliché.
- UNIQUE II Break My Stride […] Yep, this is a dance-leaning cover of the Matthew Wilder '80s pop chestnut. It has already saturated radio airwaves throughout Europe, with a number of programmers here already giving it positive feedback.1997 May 10, Larry Flick, “Reviews & Previews: Singles”, in Timothy White, editor, Billboard: The International Newsweekly of Music, Video and Home Entertainment, volume 109, number 19, New York...
- Take greed. He [Donald Trump]'s been cited many times for what now has become a chestnut: "The point is, you can't be too greedy."2015 August 27, Michael Signer, “Trump and the Dangers of Passionate Politics: The Billionaire Candidate’s Skill at Manipulating Emotions may Ultimately Derail His Candidacy”, in James Bennet...
- Synonyms:
- platitude
Adjective
chestnut (not comparable)
- Of a deep reddish-brown colour, like that of a chestnut fruit (noun sense 1).
- chestnut hair
- […] Aill, from mountains freed, / Down from the lakes did raving come; / Each wave was crested with tawny foam, / Like the mane of a chesnut steed.1805, Walter Scott, “Canto First”, in The Lay of the Last Minstrel: A Poem, London: […] [James Ballantyne] for Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme, […], and A[rchibald] Constable and Co., […], →OCLC...
- Synonyms:
- castaneous
Proper noun capitalized: Chestnut
Chestnut (plural Chestnuts)
- A surname.
- And not to rub salt in wounds, when it comes to making mincemeat of the competition, American Joey Chestnut is still top banana.2015 July 2, Michael Pearson, “6 things to know about hot dog king Joey Chestnut”, in CNN
Also used as
chestnut is also the abbreviation of horse chestnut.
chestnut meaning in Hindi, Urdu, Bengali and Punjabi
chestnut in Hindi
- edible nut of the Spanish chestnut or sweet chestnut tree (Castanea sativa); nut from a related shrub or tree; similar nut from an unrelated plant
- शाहबलूत śāhbalūt
chestnut in Urdu
- edible nut of the Spanish chestnut or sweet chestnut tree (Castanea sativa); nut from a related shrub or tree; similar nut from an unrelated plant
- شاہ بلوط śāh balūt
chestnut in Bengali
- edible nut of the Spanish chestnut or sweet chestnut tree (Castanea sativa); nut from a related shrub or tree; similar nut from an unrelated plant
- বাদামী badami, চেস্টনাট cesṭonaṭ
chestnut in Punjabi
- of a deep reddish-brown colour, like that of a chestnut fruit
- ਲਾਖਾ lākhā
More languagesFewer languages
- chestnut in Gujarati
- ચેસ્ટનટ cesṭanaṭ
- chestnut in Assamese
- চেষ্টনাট sestonat
- chestnut in Tagalog
- kastanyas
- chestnut in Arabic
- كَسْتَنَاء kastanāʔ, أَشْقَر ʔašqar
- chestnut in Indonesian
- kastanye, berangan, lakci, kayu berangan
- chestnut in Persian
- شاه بلوط šâh balut
- chestnut in Thai
- เกาลัด gao-lát
- chestnut in Vietnamese
- hạt dẻ, nâu hạt dẻ, gỗ dẻ
Examples of chestnut in a sentence
- An oak or a chestnut undertakes no function it cannot execute; […]1876, Ralph Waldo Emerson, “The Comic”, in Letters and Social Aims, Boston, Mass.: James R[ipley] Osgood and Company, late Ticknor &...
- An owl cried among the silent Spanish chestnuts on the slope outside.1908 October, Perceval Landon, “Thurnley Abbey”, in McClure’s Magazine, volume XXXI, number 6, New York, N.Y.; London: S[amuel] S[idney]...
- Tregonnel's landau waiting for him, with a pair of powerful chestnuts, and a couple of servants, whose neat brown liveries had nothing of that unsophisticated semi-savagery which Mr.1882, [Mary Elizabeth Braddon], “But then Came One, the Lovelace of His Day”, in Mount Royal […], volume I, London: John and Robert Maxwell...
Synonyms of chestnut
Forms of chestnut
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | chestnuts |
| alternative form | chesnut |
| Proper noun | |
| plural | Chestnuts |
Origin of chestnut
The noun is a contraction of chest(en) (“(obsolete) chestnut tree; fruit of this tree, chestnut”) + nut. Chesten is a late variant of chesteine (obsolete), from Middle English chesten, chesteine, chasteine, chesteyne (“chestnut tree (Castanea sativa); fruit of this tree; wood of this tree”), from Old French chastaigne, chastaine (French châtaigne), from Latin castanea (“chestnut tree; fruit of this tree”) (whence Old English ċisten), from Ancient Greek κᾰστᾰ́νειᾰ (kăstắneiă), a variant of κᾰ́στᾰνᾰ (kắstănă, “sweet chestnut”); for further etymology, see that entry. Doublet of castanet. Noun sense 4 (“joke, phrase, etc., which has been repeated so often as to have grown ineffective or tiresome”) may refer to an 1816 play, The Broken Sword, by William Dimond (1781 – c. 1837), in which one character begins to relate a story in which a boy slips down from a cork tree, and another interrupts him to say that he had previously repeated the story many times, and always mentioned a chestnut tree. The adjective is probably from an attributive use of the noun; compare French (of hair) châtain (“chestnut”) (from châtaigne (“a chestnut”)) and marron (“brown”) (from marron (“a horse chestnut or...
Words formed from chestnut
- chestnut-backed antshrike
- chestnut-backed chickadee
- chestnut-bellied tit
- chestnut-breasted mannikin
- chestnut clearwing moth
- chestnut-eared bunting
- chestnut-flanked sparrowhawk
- chestnut munia
- chestnut-naped antpitta
- chestnut rail
- chestnut-tailed starling
- chestnut teal
- two-lined chestnut borer
- chestnut-bark disease
- chestnut blight
- chestnut canker
- chestnut coal
- Chestnut Hill
- chestnutlike
- chestnut rose
- chestnutting
- chestnutty
- liver chestnut
- old chestnut
- pull someone's chestnuts out of the fire
- sea chestnut
Phrases with chestnut
- chestnut oak
- Cape chestnut
- chestnut oaks
- chestnut tree
- chestnut brown
- chestnut rails
- chestnut teals
- chestnut trees
- earth chestnut
- horse chestnut
- sweet chestnut
- water chestnut
18 more phrasesFewer phrases
- chestnut munias
- chestnut weevil
- ground chestnut
- Korean chestnut
- Malabar chestnut
- Spanish chestnut
- American chestnut
- European chestnut
- Japanese chestnut
- Tahitian chestnut
- swamp chestnut oak
- Polynesian chestnut
- swamp chestnut oaks
- Indian rose chestnut
- Moreton Bay chestnut
- Chinese water chestnut
- chestnut clearwing moths
- two-lined chestnut borers
Questions about chestnut
- What does chestnut mean?
- Chestnut means an edible nut (technically a fruit) of the Spanish chestnut or sweet chestnut tree (Castanea sativa); also (chiefly preceded by a descriptive word), a nut from a related shrub or tree; or a similar nut from an unrelated plant.
- What is chestnut in Hindi?
- Chestnut in Hindi is शाहबलूत (śāhbalūt). See Chestnut meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use chestnut in a sentence?
- An oak or a chestnut undertakes no function it cannot execute; […]
- What part of speech is chestnut?
- Chestnut can be a noun, an adjective or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce chestnut?
- Chestnut is pronounced /ˈt͡ʃɛs(t)nʌt/ (UK).
- What is the plural of chestnut?
- The plural of chestnut is chestnuts.
Words near chestnut in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: chestnut (page history and authors); Chestnut (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-chestnut.ogg, En-au-chestnut.ogg.
Cite this entry: “chestnut.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/chestnut. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.