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esculents

Noun
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

Edible plants, especially vegetables, herbs, roots, or other food-producing vegetation; a formal or old-fashioned term often found in descriptive verse.

Detailed Definition
Hardy uses this literary term for plants cultivated or gathered as food near the house. It contrasts with the surrounding wild vegetation and flowers.
Example
Example in poetry:
“Are herbs and esculents” names edible plants in Wordsworth’s rural landscape; “The garden yielded esculents, thyme, beans, and greens” uses the formal noun for food plants; Keats’s “salad herbs” offers a plainer poetic equivalent; A contemporary eco-poem might praise “esculents gathered from the community plot” to connect nourishment and place
Additional Notes
The quoted word is a rare, specialized noun for edible plants rather than a familiar everyday term.; Found in the poem, Domicilium by Thomas Hardy
Also Known As
edibles comestibles foodstuffs consumables
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