Ha"zel (?), n. [OE. hasel, AS. haesel; akin to D. hazelaar, G. hazel, OHG. hasal, hasala, Icel. hasl, Dan & Sw. hassel, L. corylus, for cosylus.]
1. Bot.
A shrub or small tree of the genus Corylus, as the C. avellana, bearing a nut containing a kernel of a mild, farinaceous taste; the filbert. The American species are C. Americana, which produces the common hazelnut, and C. rostrata. See Filbert.
Gray.
2.
A miner's name for freestone.
Raymond.
Hazel earth, soil suitable for the hazel; a fertile loam. -- Hazel grouse Zool., a European grouse (Bonasa betulina), allied to the American ruffed grouse. -- Hazel hoe, a kind of grub hoe. -- Witch hazel. See Witch-hazel, and Hamamelis.
© Webster 1913.
Ha"zel, a.
1.
Consisting of hazels, or of the wood of the hazel; pertaining to, or derived from, the hazel; as, a hazel wand.
I sit me down beside the hazel grove.
Keble.
2.
Of a light brown color, like the hazelnut.
"Thou hast
hazel eyes."
Shak.
© Webster 1913.