berry

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈber.i/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old English berie (“berry, grape”) (about 1000, in Ælfric),^[2][3][4] from *bazją,^[4][2] cognate with Old High German beri (German Beere), Dutch bes, Old Norse ber and Gothic 𐍅𐌴𐌹𐌽𐌰𐌱𐌰𐍃𐌹 (weinabasi), grape.^[2][3][4][5] Its earlier history is uncertain;^[2][3] Barnhart notes a possible link with Sanskrit bhas-, to eat.^[2] Etymonline notes that berry and apple are the only native English fruit names.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Any small round juicy fruit without a stone: about 1000.^[6][2]

Semantic evolution

A coffee bean is loosely a berry from 1712.^[6] One of the eggs in a fish's roe, or a lobster's eggs, is from 1768.^[6] In botany, a berry is a many-seeded pulpy fruit such as a grape or tomato (1809).^[6][7] The slang sense, a dollar or a pound, is from 1918.^[6] The verb, to gather berries, is from about 1780.^[5]

Timeline

• c. 1000 – berie.^[2]
• 1712 – a coffee bean.^[6]
• 1768 – a fish egg.^[6]
• c. 1780 – to berry (verb).^[5]
• 1809 – a berry (botany).^[6]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A small, juicy, fleshy fruit, such as a blackberry or raspberry.
2. (botany) A fleshy fruit with several seeds that develops from one ovary, such as a grape or tomato.
3. A seed or dried kernel such as a coffee bean.

Verb

1. To gather berries.

Word family

• berryless
• berrylike

Related words

• blackberry
• strawberry
• gooseberry

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin