Etymologically
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cherry

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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
  • 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