prune
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prune¹
- /pɹuːn/ UK
- /pɹun/ Canada, US
- /pɹʉːn/ Australia, New Zealand
- /pɹɪu̯n/
Rhymes with -uːn
Where it comes from
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 prunes · proin
- A plum.
- The dried, wrinkled fruit of certain species of plum.
- Something wrinkly like a prune. 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 abando
- An old woman, especially a wrinkly one.
Similar: old woman
verb prunes · pruning · pruned · proin
- To become wrinkled like a dried plum, as the fingers and toes do when kept submerged in water. I hardly left that spot in my pool that month even when my fingers pruned and chlorine dried out my skin.
prune²
- /pɹuːn/ UK
- /pɹun/ Canada, US
- /pɹʉːn/ Australia, New Zealand
- /pɹɪu̯n/
Rhymes with -uːn
Where it comes from
From Middle English prunen, prounen, proinen, from Old French proignier (“to trim the feathers with the beak”), earlier prooignier. Likely influenced by Middle French rogner, Old French rooignier (“cut, trim”) (from Latin rotundo?), and possibly by Old French provainier (“provine”) (Latin propaginem? whence French provigner). The relation to the noun is thus unclear.
verb prunes · pruning · pruned · proin
- 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.
- To cut down or shorten (by the removal of unnecessary material). to prune a budget, or an essay
- To remove (something unnecessary) for the sake of cutting down or shortening that which it was previously part of. When internal dissension and a decline in popularity set in, Johnny was pruned from the Crests.
- To remove participation status from or contributed material attributed to users usually deemed inactive or undesirable from an interactive computer service or website for the sake of housekeeping.
- To remove unnecessary branches from a tree data structure.
- To trim the feathers with the beak.
- To preen; to prepare; to dress. She gins her feathers fowle disfigured Prowdly to prune, and sett on every side.
Thesaurus
noun
Similar: old woman
Translations
Every language
noun dried plum
| Español | ciruela pasa, pruna seca, guindón |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 말린 자두 mallin jadu |
| 日本語 | プルーン purūn, 西洋李 seiyō sumomo |
| 中文 | 李子乾 /李子干 lǐzigān, 西梅乾 /西梅干 xīméigān, 乾梅子 /干梅子 gānméizi, 梅乾 /梅干 mēigān |
| Português | ameixa seca |
| Français | pruneau |
| Deutsch | Backpflaume, Trockenpflaume, Dörrpflaume |
| Italiano | prugna secca |
| Ελληνικά | αποξηραμένο δαμάσκηνο apoxiraméno damáskino |
| Română | prună uscată |
| Русский | черносли́в černoslív |
| Tiếng Việt | nho khô |
| العربية | أَجَاص ʔajāṣ, عَوِينَة ʕawīna, عَوِينَة مُجَفَّفَة, خَوْخ مُجَفَّف ḵawḵ mujaffaf |
noun old woman
| Português | maracujá de gaveta |
|---|
verb trim a tree or shrub
| Español | podar |
|---|---|
| Kiswahili | pogoa |
| Português | podar |
| Français | élaguer, émonder, tailler |
| Deutsch | zurecht-, zurück-), be-, zurück-) |
| Italiano | potare, ridurre, sfoltire |
| Ελληνικά | κλαδεύω kladévo |
| Română | curăță, emonda |
| Русский | прореживать proreživatʹ |
| العربية | شَذَبَ šaḏaba, قَضَبَ qaḍaba, قَلَمَ qalama, هَذَّبَ haḏḏaba, نَقَحَ naqaḥa |
| עברית | זָמַר zamár |
Talk about this word "prune." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/prune. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. prune. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/prune "prune." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/prune.Cite this
@misc{prune_2026,
title = {prune},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/prune},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
