Meaning

noun small deciduous tree of southern Africa having edible fruit

noun small deciduous Eurasian tree cultivated for its fruit that resemble crab apples

noun a South African globular fruit with brown leathery skin and pithy flesh having a sweet-acid taste

originFrom Middle English medler, medeler, from Old French medler, meslier, from medle, mesdle (“medlar fruit”), from Latin mespilum, from Ancient Greek μέσπιλον (méspilon). Related to the rare mesple, via Proto-West Germanic *mespilā. Displaced Old English openærs (“open-arse”) (and similar names, from anatomical comparison).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0