apricot

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈeɪ.pɹɪ.kɒt/ (UK); /ˈeɪ.pɹɪ.kɑt/, /ˈæp.ɹɪ.kɑt/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

An alteration of earlier abrecock,^[2][3][4] from Catalan abercoc or Portuguese or Spanish forms,^[4][5] from Arabic البرقوق (al-barqūq),^[2][4][3][5] through Byzantine Greek,^[4][2] probably from Latin praecoquum (“early-ripening”) (fruit),^[4][2][3] related to praecox.^[3][5] The form was assimilated to French abricot.^[4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It first named the orange, roundish stone fruit allied to the plum.^[6][4]

Semantic evolution

The Latin name probably arose because the fruit was considered a variety of peach that ripened earlier than others.^[4] The tree also bears the name,^[6][3] and by 1906 so does the pinkish-yellow colour of the fruit.^[4][6]

Timeline

• 1524 – the tree introduced into England.^[4]
• 1550s – abrecock;^[4] the OED’s first quotation is 1551^[6] and Merriam-Webster gives 1580.^[3]
• 1906 – the colour.^[4][6]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. The juicy yellow-orange stone fruit of Prunus armeniaca.
2. The tree bearing this fruit.
3. A pinkish or yellowish orange colour.

Word family

• plumcot

Related words

• precocious

References

1. [1] Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. [1] [2] [3] [4] The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Boston: Houghton Mifflin
3. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. [1] [2] [3] [4] Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
6. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press