Maple (māp'l), n. [AS. mapolder, mapulder, mapol; akin to Icel. möpurr; cf. OHG. mazzaltra, mazzoltra, G. massholder.] (Bot.) A tree of the genus Acer, including about fifty species. Acer saccharinum is the rock maple, or sugar maple, from the sap of which sugar is made, in the United States, in great quantities, by evaporation; the red maple or swamp maple is Acer rubrum; the silver maple, Acer dasycarpum, having fruit wooly when young; the striped maple, Acer Pennsylvanium, called also moosewood. The common maple of Europe is Acer campestre, the sycamore maple is Acer Pseudo-platanus, and the Norway maple is Acer platanoides.[1913 Webster]
&hand_; Maple is much used adjectively, or as the first part of a compound; as, maple tree, maple leaf, etc.[1913 Webster]
Bird's-eye maple, Curled maple, varieties of the wood of the rock maple, in which a beautiful lustrous grain is produced by the sinuous course of the fibers. -- Maple honey, Maple molasses, Maple syrup, or Maple sirup, maple sap boiled to the consistency of molasses. -- Maple sugar, sugar obtained from the sap of the sugar maple by evaporation.[1913 Webster]