Hi Linda, welcome to the forum!
Interesting question I never noticed a difference before. I looked in my KJV Bible and it has Chestnut, but I did notice the same word in other translations as Chesnut, without the "t"... example the Webster's version as Chesnut-tree but the dictionary for it has Chestnut, even another one of my KJV has it Chesnut.
The actual Hebrew word from the Strong's concordance is.
H6196
ערמון
‛armôn
ar-mone'
Probably from
H6191; the plane tree (from its smooth and shed bark): - chestnut tree.
H6191ערם
‛âram
aw-ram'
A primitive root; properly to be (or make) bare; but used only in the derived sense (through the idea perhaps of smoothness) to be cunning (usually in a bad sense): - X very, beware, take crafty [counsel], be prudent, deal subtilly.
I found it used two places in the Bible.
Gen 30:37 And Jacob took him rods of green poplar, and of the hazel and
chestnut tree; and peeled white streaks in them, and made the white appear which was in the rods.
Eze 31:8 The cedars in the garden of God could not hide him: the fir trees were not like his boughs, and the
chestnut trees were not like his branches; nor any tree in the garden of God was like unto him in his beauty.
In both places it is the Hebrew word ar-mone'
I looked up Chesnut in the Online Etymology Dictionary and couldn't find anything for that word ( without the "t" )
Chestnut ( with the "t" ) had a lot of information.
http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=Chestnut&searchmode=nlchestnut
1570, from chesten nut (1519), from M.E. chasteine, from O.Fr. chastaigne, from L. castanea, from Gk. kastaneia, which the Greeks thought meant either "nut from Castanea" in Pontus, or "nut from Castana" in Thessaly, but probably both places are named for the trees, not the other way around, and the word is probably borrowed from a language of Asia Minor. Of the dark reddish-brown color, 1656. Applied to the horse-chestnut 1832. Slang sense of "venerable joke or story" is from 1886, probably from a joke (first recorded 1888) based on an oft-repeated story in which a chestnut tree figures. The key part of the 1888 citation is:
"When suddenly from the thick boughs of a cork-tree --"
"A chestnut, Captain; a chestnut."
"Bah! booby, I say a cork-tree!"
"A chestnut," reiterates Pablo. "I should know as well as you, having heard you tell the tale these twenty-seven times."
horse-chestnut
1597, from horse + chestnut. A tree probably native to Asia, introduced in England c.1550; the name also was extended to similar N.Amer. species such as the buckeye. Said to have been so called because it was food for horses. The nut resembles that of the edible chestnut, but is bitter to the taste.
maroon (n.)
1594, "large sweet chestnut of southern Europe," from Fr. marron "chestnut," from dialect of Lyons, ult. from a word in a pre-Roman language, perhaps Ligurian; or from Gk. maraon "sweet chestnut." Sense of "very dark reddish-brown color" is first recorded 1791, from Fr. couleur marron.
buck-eye
"American horse chestnut" (1763), said to be so called from resemblance to a stag's eye. Meaning "native of Ohio" is attested since 1822.
castanet
1647, from Sp. castaneta dim. of castana "chestnut," from L. castanea.
bay (4)
"reddish-brown," 1341, from Anglo-Fr. bai, from O.Fr. bai, from L. badius "chestnut-brown" (used only of horses), from PIE *badyo- "yellow, brown" (cf. O.Ir. buide "yellow"). Also elliptical for a horse of this color.
curry (v.)
c.1290, "to rub down a horse," from Anglo-Fr. curreier "to curry-comb a horse," from O.Fr. correier "put in order, prepare, curry," from con- intens. prefix + reier "arrange," from a Gmc. source. The surviving sense of curry favor is c.1510, altered by folk etymology from curry favel (c.1400) from O.Fr. correier fauvel "to be false, hypocritical," lit. "to curry the chestnut ('fawn-colored') horse," which in medieval Fr. allegories was a symbol of cunning and deceit.
blond (adj.)
1481, from O.Fr. blont, from M.L. adj. blundus "yellow," perhaps from Frank. *blund. If it is a Gmc. word, possibly related to O.E. blonden-feax "gray-haired," from blondan, blandan "to mix" (see blend). According to Littré, the original sense of the Fr. word was "a colour midway between golden and light chestnut," which might account for the notion of "mixed." O.E. beblonden meant "dyed," so it is also possible that the root meaning of blonde, if it is Gmc., may be "dyed," as the ancient Teutonic warriors were noted for dying their hair. Du Cange, however, writes that blundus was a vulgar pronunciation of L. flavus "yellow." The word was reintroduced into Eng. 17c. from Fr., and was until recently still felt as Fr., hence blonde for females. As a noun, used c.1755 of a type of lace, 1822 of people.
I also looked at Askaword.com and the only thing I found for chesnut was some people's names..
Encyclopedia: Mary Chesnut, Jerry Chesnut, Johnson Chesnut Whittaker, Talk:Johnson Chesnut Whittaker, James Chesnut, Jr., Talk:Jerry Chesnut, Talk:James Chesnut, Jr.
Mary Boykin Miller Chesnut (March 31, 1823 – November 22, 1886) was a South Carolina woman famous for keeping an extremely detailed diary describing the American Civil War.
That is all that I could find about it Linda. Let us know if you find anything else.
