peach English · revision 39717

+ Merriam-Webster gives the fruit and the verb "to inform against" separate entries with different origins.^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈpiːt͡ʃ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ {{homograph|1|fruit}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=a1400, translation of Lanfranc's Science of Cirurgie|origins=grc Περσίς}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The fruit is [[bor|xno|pesche]], [[m|xno|peche]], and [[fro|pesche]],^(OED 2026)^(AND)^(Hoad 1986) and partly a direct borrowing of [[la-med|pesca]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from [[la-lat|persica]], an alteration of [[la|persicum]],^(OED 2026)^(SOED 2002)^(Ayto 2005) short for [[m|la|mālum Persicum|t=Persian apple]],^(Ayto 2005)^(MW Word Histories)^(ODE 2010) from the neuter of [[m|la|Persicus|t=Persian]].^(MWU 2024) The Latin name translates [[grc|Περσικὸν μῆλον|tr=Persikòn mêlon]],^(MW Word Histories)^(Etymonline) from [[m|grc|Περσίς|tr=Persís|t=Persia]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) Late Latin ''persica'' was a neuter plural taken as a feminine singular,^(Klein 1966)^(Dictionary.com 2016) and Barnhart notes the variant [[m|la-lat|pessica]].^(Barnhart 1988) The fruit is native to China, and it became known in Europe after it had reached Persia;^(Ayto 2005)^(MW Word Histories) Merriam-Webster's Book of Word Histories adds that [[Persian]] served the Greeks and Romans as a catch-all word for things from the distant East.^(MW Word Histories) [[ang|persoc]], [[de|Pfirsich]] and [[nl|perzik]] are earlier borrowings of the same Latin word.^(Dictionary.com 2016)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The peach tree: before 1400, in an English translation of Lanfranc's ''Science of Cirurgie'';^(OED 2026) the fruit is recorded before 1425, in the ''Romaunt of the Rose''.^(OED 2026) Barnhart finds ''peche'' before 1400, and the surname ''Pecche'' as early as 1184–85.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Johnson (1755) described the tree and its fruit, with its furrowed stone, at length.^(Johnson 1755) The name was extended to other plants with peach-like leaves or fruit from 1760.^(OED 2026) From 1710 a ''peach'' was colloquially an especially fine person or thing, and particularly an attractive young woman.^(OED 2026)^(HTOED) In American English ''peach'' was short for peach brandy from 1809 to 1880.^(OED 2026) It names the colour of the fruit from 1831, although the adjective "peach-coloured" is recorded from 1583.^(OED 2026) The ''peaches-and-cream'' complexion is recorded from 1893,^(OED 2026) and the sense of something easy or delightful, originally American, from 1920.^(OED 2026) In Cornish tin mining, ''peach'' (1778) was the name of two kinds of rock, apparently from their velvety look.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1184–85 – ''Pecche'', as a surname.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * a1400 – the peach tree.^(OED 2026)

+ * a1425 – the fruit.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1583 – adjective, peach-coloured.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1710 – an especially fine person or thing; an attractive young woman.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1831 – the colour of a peach.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1893 – a fair complexion with pink cheeks.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1920 – something easy or delightful.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A round, juicy [[fruit]] with downy yellow and red skin, sweet yellowish flesh and a single [[stone]].^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+ # The tree, ''Prunus persica'', that bears this fruit, native to China and grown in warm temperate regions.^(Collins 2023)^(OED 2026)

+ # A pinkish-yellow to orange colour.^(Collins 2023)^(OED 2026)

+ # (informal) A particularly fine or attractive person or thing: ''That goal was a peach.''^(OED 2026)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Of the colour of a ripe peach.^(OED 2026)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[peachy]]

+ * [[peach melba]]

+ * [[peach-coloured]]

+ * [[peaches and cream]]

+

+ {{homograph|2|inform against}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=clipping|attested=1465, Paston Letters}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The verb "to inform against" is [[m|enm|pechen|t=to accuse]], a shortening of [[m|enm|apechen|t=to accuse]], the source of the obsolete [[appeach]],^(MWU 2024)^(OED 2026)^(Hoad 1986)^(Etymonline) which the American Heritage Dictionary derives probably from [[xno|*anpecher]], from [[la-lat|impedicō|t=to entangle]].^(AHD 2024) It is related to [[impeach]].^(OED 2026)^(Weekley 1921)^(Etymonline) Etymonline compares the shortening of [[peal]] from [[appeal]].^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ To accuse someone formally; to impeach or bring to trial: 1465, in the ''Paston Letters'';^(OED 2026) this sense was obsolete by 1728.^(OED 2026) Etymonline dates ''pechen'' "to accuse, indict" to about 1400.^(Etymonline) Weekley quotes a Paston letter about a woman who had ''apeched'' a man "and all his felawshepe".^(Weekley 1921)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ From formal accusation the verb narrowed to giving evidence against one's accomplices: transitively from 1570, in Foxe's ''Actes and Monumentes'',^(OED 2026) and intransitively, to turn informer, from 1598, in Shakespeare's ''Henry IV, Part 1''.^(OED 2026) Merriam-Webster's earliest date for the transitive sense is 1560,^(MWU 2024) and Etymonline's the 1560s.^(Etymonline) In the 19th century it was also used colloquially for divulging information (1852–1883).^(OED 2026) The SOED labels the intransitive use slang,^(SOED 2002) and the transitive use is now rare.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1465 – to accuse formally, impeach (obsolete).^(OED 2026)

+ * 1570 – to inform against an accomplice.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1598 – to turn informer, in ''Henry IV, Part 1''.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1852 – to divulge, blab (obsolete).^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # (archaic or slang) To [[inform]] against an accomplice; to turn informer, often with ''on'' or ''against''.^(OED 2026)^(SOED 2002)^(MWU 2024)

+ # (archaic) To [[betray]] someone by giving incriminating evidence.^(MWU 2024)^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[peacher]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[Persian]]

+ * [[impeach]]

+ * [[appeach]]

+ * [[nectarine]]

+ * [[apricot]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}