juniper Meaning, Definition & Usage

noun desert shrub of Syria and Arabia having small white flowers; constitutes the juniper of the Old Testament; sometimes placed in genus Genista
juniper bush; Retama raetam; retem; Genista raetam; raetam.
noun coniferous shrub or small tree with berrylike cones

L. juniperus, prop., youth-producing, and so called from its evergreen appearance, from the roots of E. juvenile, and parent. Cf. Gin the liquor.

(Bot.) Any evergreen shrub or tree, of the genus Juniperus and order Coniferæ. ✍ The common juniper (J. communis) is a shrub of a low, spreading form, having awl-shaped, rigid leaves in whorls of threes, and bearing small purplish blue berries (or galbuli), of a warm, pungent taste, used as diuretic and in flavoring gin. A resin exudes from the bark, which has erroneously been considered identical with sandarach, and is used as pounce. The oil of juniper is acrid, and used for various purposes, as in medicine, for making varnish, etc. The wood of several species is of a reddish color, hard and durable, and is used in cabinetwork under the names of red cedar, Bermuda cedar, etc.