▁grey ▁and ▁red . ▁ ▁The ▁cost ard ▁is ▁believed ▁to ▁have ▁been ▁a ▁cook ing ▁apple , ▁perhaps ▁similar ▁to ▁the ▁modern ▁Bell flow er ▁apple . ▁The ▁name ▁is ▁possibly ▁derived ▁from ▁the ▁Latin ▁cost atus ▁(" rib bed "), ▁rel ating ▁to ▁prominent ▁external ▁prot us ions ▁on ▁this ▁variety . ▁The ▁apple ▁gave ▁its ▁name ▁to ▁the ▁cost erm ong er ▁( which ▁was ▁originally ▁" cost ard ▁m ong er ", ▁a ▁s eller ▁of ▁cost ards ), ▁a ▁term ▁used ▁to ▁describe ▁a ▁trans ient ▁fruit ▁s eller . ▁ ▁In ▁writing ▁▁ ▁Geoff rey ▁Ch au cer ▁( c . ▁ 1 3 4 0 - 1 4 0 0 ) ▁mentioned ▁the ▁cost ard ▁in ▁his ▁work , ▁writing : ▁" your ▁che kes ▁em bol med ▁like ▁a ▁m ellow ▁cost ard ". ▁In ▁ 1 5 9 7 ▁William ▁Law son ▁wrote ▁about ▁growing ▁apple ▁trees ▁and ▁stated ▁that ▁the ▁cost ard ▁and ▁" Pi pping " ▁apple ▁were ▁large ▁trees ▁and ▁that ▁to ▁ensure ▁best ▁yields ▁they ▁should ▁be ▁grown ▁on ▁the ▁north ▁side ▁of ▁an ▁orch ard ▁so ▁as ▁not ▁to ▁sh ade ▁other ▁trees . ▁ ▁Samuel ▁Johnson ▁in ▁his ▁ 1 7 5 5 ▁A ▁Dictionary ▁of ▁the ▁English ▁Language ▁thought ▁that ▁the ▁name ▁derived ▁from ▁the ▁use ▁of ▁cost ard ▁to ▁refer ▁to ▁the ▁head ▁( for ▁which ▁he ▁c ited ▁Shakespeare ). ▁He ▁supposed ▁that ▁the ▁apple ▁was ▁so ▁named ▁as ▁it ▁was ▁large ▁and ▁round ▁and