Boxberry

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A low evergreen shrub of the heath family that bears small, edible red berries and grows in cool northern regions
2. Any of several low-growing evergreen plants whose small red berries are edible and are found in cold or mountainous areas
3. A creeping woody shrub with leathery leaves and tart red fruit, native to northern climates and valued by foragers

Etymology: Boxberry is a plain compound of "box" and "berry." "Box" comes from Old English "box," which was borrowed from Latin "buxus," the name of the boxwood tree. "Berry" is an older English word for a small fruit. The name was most likely given because the shrub's small, leathery leaves look something like boxwood leaves, though the source of the name is not documented. The name is applied to more than one creeping, low-growing plant with red berries, so it does not point to a single species. Its meaning comes from the plant's appearance, not from any link to the tree, which is not closely related to it.