Definitions for quince

Random House Webster's College Dictionary

quince(n.)

a small tree, Cydonia oblonga, of the rose family, bearing hard, fragrant, yellowish fruit used chiefly for making jelly or preserves.
Category: Plants
the fruit of such a tree.
Category: Plants

Origin of quince:

1275–1325; ME, appar. orig. pl. (taken as sing.) of quyne, coyn < MF cooin < L cotōneum, akin to cydōnium < Gk (mêlon) Kydṓnion quince, lit., (apple) of Cydonia

Princeton's WordNet

quince, quince bush, Cydonia oblonga(noun)
small Asian tree with pinkish flowers and pear-shaped fruit; widely cultivated
quince(noun)
aromatic acid-tasting pear-shaped fruit used in preserves

Wiktionary

quince(Noun)
The pear-shaped fruit of a small tree of the rose family, Cydonia oblonga.
quince(Noun)
The deciduous tree bearing such fruit, native to Asia.

Origin: From Old French cooin (modern coing), from late Latin (malum) cotoneum, a variant of malum Cydonium ‘Cydonian apple’, translating Greek μήλον κυδώνιον.

Webster Dictionary

Quince(noun)
the fruit of a shrub (Cydonia vulgaris) belonging to the same tribe as the apple. It somewhat resembles an apple, but differs in having many seeds in each carpel. It has hard flesh of high flavor, but very acid, and is largely used for marmalade, jelly, and preserves
Quince(noun)
a quince tree or shrub