fruit English · revision 4380

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1175|origins=la fructus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /fruːt/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|frut]], fruit,^(Barnhart 1988) [[bor|fro|fruit|t=fruit, dessert; harvest; virtuous action]] (12th century),^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from [[la|frūctus|t=enjoyment; produce, fruit, crops; profit]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Cresswell 2021) from frūg-, stem of fruī “to use, enjoy”,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) from [[ine-pro|*bʰrewg-|alt=*bhrug-|t=to enjoy]].^(Etymonline) The Latin word also gave Spanish fruto, Italian frutto and German Frucht.^(Etymonline) The spelling with i, after French, became established in the 16th century.^(Barnhart 1988) It is related to [[frugal]] and [[brook]] “to tolerate”.^(Cresswell 2021)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Vegetable products in general fit for food: about 1175 in the OED,^(OED 1989) the late 12th century in Etymonline,^(Etymonline) probably before 1200 in Barnhart, as frut in the Ancrene Riwle.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It first meant all products of the soil, vegetables, nuts, grain;^(Etymonline) the narrower modern sense, the edible product of a tree or plant, is from the early 13th century.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) Offspring is from the mid-13th century,^(Etymonline) income or profit from the soil from the mid-14th, preserved in ''the fruits of one's labour'',^(Etymonline) and any consequence or result from the late 14th.^(Etymonline) The verb, to bear fruit, is from 1377.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988) In botany the seed with its covering is from 1794.^(OED 1989) ''Fruitful'' is from about 1390, in Chaucer,^(Barnhart 1988) ''fruitcake'' from 1848 in American English,^(Barnhart 1988) and ''fruity'' from 1657.^(Barnhart 1988) Slang senses include an odd person, from 1910,^(Etymonline) and a male homosexual, from 1927,^(Etymonline)^(Cresswell 2021) and ''fruitcake'', a mad person, from the mid-20th century.^(Cresswell 2021) In Worcestershire and Herefordshire fruit meant apples, the fruit of the county.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1175 – produce of the soil.^(OED 1989)

+ * early 13th century – edible fruit.^(Etymonline)

+ * mid-13th century – offspring.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1377 – verb, to bear fruit.^(OED 1989)

+ * late 14th century – a result.^(Etymonline)

+ * c. 1390 – ''fruitful''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1794 – in botany.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1848 – ''fruitcake''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The sweet, fleshy, edible part of a plant, such as an [[apple]] or orange, or such parts collectively.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # ''(botany)'' The ripened ovary of a flowering plant, containing the [[seed]]s.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # Any plant product used as food: ''the fruits of the earth''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # The result or consequence of something: ''the fruit of years of work''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # ''(archaic)'' Offspring.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To produce fruit.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[fruited]]

+ * [[fruitlike]]

+ * [[fruitage]]

+ * [[fruitarian]]

+ * [[fruitcake]]

+ * [[fruiter]]

+ * [[fruiterer]]

+ * [[fruitful]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[fructose]]

+ * [[frugivore]]

+ * [[frugivorous]]

+ * [[fruition]]

+ * [[fruity]]

+ * [[frugal]]

+ * [[brook]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}