• (RP) IPA: /ˈɛskjʊlənt/
• (America) IPA: /ˈɛskjələnt/

esculent (formal)

1. Suitable for eating; eatable, edible.

   Synonyms: Thesaurus:edible

   Antonyms: inesculent, Thesaurus:inedible

   Coordinate terms: drinkable, (obsolete) poculent, potable

   • 1629, Thycydides, “The Fourth Booke”, in Thomas Hobbes, transl., Eight Bookes of the Peloponnesian Warre […], London: […] [Eliot’s Court Press] for Richard Mynne […], published 1634, →OCLC ↗, page 226 ↗:

     [T]he Lacedæmonians, […] had proclaimed that any man that would, ſhould carry in Meale, Wine, Cheeſe, and all other eſculents neceſſary for a Siege, into the Iland, appointing for the ſame a great reward of ſiluer: […]

   • 1664, J[ohn] E[velyn], “Kalendarium Hortense: Or, The Gard’ners Almanac; […] [September.].”, in Sylva, or A Discourse of Forest-trees and the Propagation of Timber in His Majesties Dominions. […], London: […] Jo[hn] Martyn, and Ja[mes] Allestry, printers to the Royal Society, […], →OCLC ↗, page 74 ↗:

     Now may you Tranſplant moſt ſorts of Eſculent, or Phyſical plants, &c.

   • 1855 July 3, Walt Whitman, “[Song of Myself]”, in Leaves of Grass, Brooklyn, New York, N.Y.: [James and Andrew Rome], →OCLC ↗, page 34 ↗:

     I find I incorporate gneiss and coal and long-threaded moss and fruits and grains and esculent roots, / And am stucco'd with quadrupeds and birds all over, / And have distanced what is behind me for good reasons, / And call any thing close again when I desire it.

   • 1859 November 23, Charles Darwin, “Variation under Domestication”, in On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, […], London: John Murray, […], →OCLC ↗, page 15 ↗:

     [T]o assert that we could not breed our cart and race-horses, long and short-horned cattle, and poultry of various breeds, and esculent vegetables, for almost an infinite number of generations, would be opposed to all experience.

2. (figuratively) “Good enough to eat”; attractive.

   Synonyms: Thesaurus:beautiful

   Synonyms: Thesaurus:ugly

• Italian: esculento

esculent (plural esculents) (formal)

1. Something edible, especially a vegetable; a comestible.

   Synonyms: eatable, edible, victual, Thesaurus:food

   Coordinate terms: drinkable, (obsolete) poculent, potable

   • 1625 (date written), Philip Massinger, A New Way to Pay Old Debts: A Comœdie […], London: […] E[lizabeth] P[urslowe] for Henry Seyle, […], published 1633, →OCLC ↗, Act IV, scene ii ↗:

     Thou neuer hadſt in thy houſe to ſtay mens ſtomackes / A peece of Suffolke cheeſe, or Gammon of Bacon, / Or any eſculent, as the learned call it, / For their emolument, but ſheere drinke only.

   • 1627 (indicated as 1626), Francis [Bacon], “V. Century. [Experiments in Consort, Touching the Melioration of Fruits, Trees, and Plants.]”, in Sylua Syluarum: Or A Naturall Historie. In Ten Centuries. […], London: […] William Rawley […]; [p]rinted by J[ohn] H[aviland] for William Lee […], →OCLC ↗, paragraph 474, page 118 ↗:

     [T]here is a double Vſe of this Cutting off the Leaues: For in Plants, where the Root is the Eſculent, as Radiſh, and Parſnips, it will make the Root the greater: And ſo it will doe to the Heads of Onions. And where the Fruit is the Eſculent, by Strengthening the Root, it will make the Fruit alſo the greater.

2. (mycology, specifically) An edible mushroom.

• German: Speisepilz