Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Any of several deciduous shrubs or small trees of the genus Hamamelis, especially H. virginiana of eastern North America, which has delicate yellow flowers that bloom in late autumn or winter.
  • noun An alcoholic solution containing an extract of the bark and leaves of this plant, applied externally as a mild astringent.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun botany Any of several small deciduous trees, of the genus Hamamelis, having yellow flowers
  • noun US, botany Hamamelis virginiana (Eastern North America), especially, or Hamamelis vernalis (Ozarks).
  • noun medicine An extract of the bark and/or leaves of this plant, used as an astringent

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun lotion consisting of an astringent alcoholic solution containing an extract from the witch hazel plant
  • noun any of several shrubs or trees of the genus Hamamelis; bark yields an astringent lotion

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Alteration of obsolete wych, wych elm; see wych elm + hazel.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

See Middle English wiche, Old English wice ("pliant, bendable, weak")

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  • A North American shrub, Hamamelis virginica; also, an extract of the leaves and bark of this shrub, used as an astringent remedy.

    February 16, 2007