Fil'bert, n.

n. [According to Junius and Skinner, corrupted from full and beard, or full of beard, from its long beards or husks, whence it is called in Ger. bart-nusz, i. e., beard-nut; according to Gower, from Phillis: “Phillis was shape into a nutte tree, that all men it might see; and after Phillis Philbert this tree was cleped in the yerde.” Cf. also Virgil’s “Phillis amat corylos,” and Spenser’s “Phillis Philbert there away compar’d with myrtle and the bay.” In German it is usually called lambertsnusz, O. Ger. lampart, lampertische or lambertische nusz, i. e., nut from Lombardy, N. Lat. nux Lombardica.] (Bot.) The fruit of the cultivated Corylus or hazel; an oval nut, containing a kernel that has a mild, farinaceous, oily taste, agreeable to the palate.