fruit

Pronunciation

• IPA: /fʁɥi/^[1]

Forms

fruit m (plural fruits)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin frūctus (“enjoyment; produce, revenue; fruits of the earth”),^[2][3][4][5] from fruor (“to enjoy, have the use of”);^[6][2][1] the TLFi calls it a borrowing.^[6] Its abstract sense was kept alive by written and Church Latin, as in “le fruit de tes entrailles” (Luke 1:42).^[3] French gave it the sense of classical pōmum (“fruit of a tree”), which was narrowed to pomme.^[2][3] Rey compares Germanic words such as Old English brūcan (“to use”), which point to a root Proto-Indo-European *bʰrug-, also in frūgēs (“fruits of the earth”) (compare frugal).^[2][7]

Cognate with Romanian fruct, Italian frutto, Occitan fruch, Catalan fruit, Spanish fruto and Portuguese fruta.^[7][3][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Vie de saint Léger (10th century) has fruit esperitiel, “spiritual fruit”, a beneficial result.^[6][2]

Semantic evolution

From “profit drawn from something” (1120–1150) came the old faire du fruit (1580) and the phrases sans fruit “in vain” (1643) and avec fruit “profitably”; by extension it is the effect, good or bad, of something (about 1225).^[2][6] A child is the fruit of generation in the Roman de Troie (about 1165), after Church Latin.^[6][2] The legal sense “revenue”, in the plural, was taken from Latin law in the 16th century.^[2]

The concrete sense, what a plant produces after the flower, is also in the Roman de Troie (about 1165), and the edible fruit is recorded in 1690; it was also the dessert (1580).^[6][2] Fruits de mer “seafood” appears before 1798, in the French version of Casanova's memoirs, probably after Italian frutti di mare.^[6] fruitier is from the 15th century and fruiterie in its modern sense from 1611.^[3]

Timeline

• 10th century – Fruit esperitiel in the Vie de saint Léger.^[6]
• 1120–1150 – “Profit”.^[6]
• c. 1165 – The fruit of a plant; a child, in the Roman de Troie.^[6]
• c. 1225 – The effect of something.^[2]
• 1611 – Fruiterie.^[3]
• 1643 – Sans fruit.^[2]
• 1690 – Edible fruit.^[2]
• Before 1798 – Fruits de mer.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. (botany) A fruit, the organ that follows the flower and contains the seeds.^[6][7]
2. An edible fruit, fruits (collectively), fruit.^[2][1]
3. Fruits de mer: seafood, shellfish.^[6]
4. (figurative) The result, product, reward of something, avec fruit, profitably, sans fruit, in vain.^[2][6]
5. (literary) A child, offspring: le fruit de ses entrailles.^[6][3]
6. (law, plural) Revenue, income from property.^[2]

Word family

• fruitier
• fruiterie
• fruitage

Related words

• frugal
• fructifier
• pomme
• Latin fructus

Usage notes

A separate noun fruit (1680, Richelet), the batter of a wall, its slight inward slope, is an alteration of frit, frid (1576), perhaps under the influence of effriter.^[4][9]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c d e f g Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
4. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 3, 823b
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
7. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
9. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse