MISTLETOE

[mis.tle.toe] n [ME mistilto, fr. OE misteltan, fr. mistel mistletoe + tan twig; akin to OHG & OS mistil mistletoe and to OHG zein twig] (bef. 12c): a European semiparasitic green shrub (Viscum album of the family Loranthaceae, the mistletoe family) with thick leaves, small yellowish flowers, and waxy-white glutinous berries; broadly: any of various plants of the mistletoe family (as of an American genus Phoradendron) resembling the true mistletoe