berry English · revision 10693

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 1000|origins=ang berie}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈber.i/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|ang|berie|t=berry, grape]] (about 1000, in Ælfric),^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) from [[m|gem-pro|*bazją]],^(Hoad 1986)^(Barnhart 1988) cognate with Old High German beri (German Beere), Dutch bes, Old Norse ber and Gothic weinabasi, grape.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024) Its earlier history is uncertain;^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) Barnhart notes a possible link with Sanskrit bhas-, to eat.^(Barnhart 1988) Etymonline notes that berry and apple are the only native English fruit names.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Any small round juicy fruit without a stone: about 1000.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ A coffee bean is loosely a berry from 1712.^(OED 1989) One of the eggs in a fish's roe, or a lobster's eggs, is from 1768.^(OED 1989) In botany, a berry is a many-seeded pulpy fruit such as a grape or tomato (1809).^(OED 1989)^(AHD) The slang sense, a dollar or a pound, is from 1918.^(OED 1989) The verb, to gather berries, is from about 1780.^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1000 – berie.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1712 – a coffee bean.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1768 – a fish egg.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1780 – to berry (verb).^(MWU 2024)

+ * 1809 – a berry (botany).^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A small, juicy, fleshy [[fruit]], such as a blackberry or raspberry.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(botany)'' A fleshy fruit with several seeds that develops from one ovary, such as a [[grape]] or [[tomato]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A seed or dried kernel such as a coffee bean.^(Collins 2023)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To gather berries.^(AHD)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[berryless]]

+ * [[berrylike]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[blackberry]]

+ * [[strawberry]]

+ * [[gooseberry]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}