cherry

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈt͡ʃɛɹi/^[1]

Etymology

It is Middle English chery, from Anglo-French and Old North French borrowed from Old French cherise (modern French cerise),^[2][3][4] mistaken for a plural and stripped of its -s, as pea was.^[2][5][3] The French is from Vulgar Latin *ceresia, from Late Greek kerasia, from Greek κέρασος (kérasos, “cherry tree”),^[2][3][6] possibly from a language of Asia Minor;^[2] Beekes thinks the name probably Anatolian, as the improved cherry came from the Pontus area.^[2] Old English had ciris, from a West Germanic borrowing of the Latin word (compare German Kirsche), but it died out after the Norman Conquest.^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The fruit: about 1000 in the OED, through the Old English form;^[7] the Middle English form about 1300, earlier in the surname Chyrimuth, cherry-mouth (1266).^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The tree is called cherry from the 1620s,^[2][7] and the colour, as an adjective, from the mid-15th century.^[2] Proverbial uses are from about 1430.^[7] Virginity, or the hymen, is American slang by 1928.^[2][8] A second bite of the cherry, a second chance, and cherry-pick, to select the best, are later idioms.^[9]

Timeline

• c. 1000 – Old English ciris.^[7]
• 1266 – the surname Chyrimuth.^[3]
• c. 1300 – chery.^[2]
• mid-15th century – cherry red.^[2]
• 1620s – the tree.^[2]
• 1928 – virginity (slang).^[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A small round fruit with a stone, usually red or black.
2. A tree of the genus Prunus bearing such fruit, or its wood.
3. A bright red colour.
4. (slang) Virginity, or the hymen.

Adjective

1. Of a bright red colour.

Word family

• cherrylike
• cherry-pick
• cherrystone
• cherrywood
• cherry bomb
• cherry picker
• cherry pie
• cherry red

Related words

• cerise
• pea
• kirsch

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
9. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins