cherry English · revision 6980

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1300|origins=grc κέρασος}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈt͡ʃɛɹi/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is Middle English chery, from Anglo-French and Old North French [[bor|fro|cherise]] (modern French [[m|fr|cerise]]),^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) mistaken for a plural and stripped of its -s, as [[pea]] was.^(Etymonline)^(Cresswell 2021)^(Barnhart 1988) The French is from Vulgar Latin *ceresia, from Late Greek kerasia, from Greek [[m|grc|κέρασος|tr=kérasos|t=cherry tree]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) possibly from a language of Asia Minor;^(Etymonline) Beekes thinks the name probably Anatolian, as the improved cherry came from the Pontus area.^(Etymonline) Old English had ciris, from a West Germanic borrowing of the Latin word (compare German [[m|de|Kirsche]]), but it died out after the Norman Conquest.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The fruit: about 1000 in the OED, through the Old English form;^(OED 1989) the Middle English form about 1300, earlier in the surname Chyrimuth, cherry-mouth (1266).^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The tree is called cherry from the 1620s,^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) and the colour, as an adjective, from the mid-15th century.^(Etymonline) Proverbial uses are from about 1430.^(OED 1989) Virginity, or the hymen, is American slang by 1928.^(Etymonline)^(GDoS) A ''second bite of the cherry'', a second chance, and ''cherry-pick'', to select the best, are later idioms.^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1000 – Old English ciris.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1266 – the surname Chyrimuth.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1300 – chery.^(Etymonline)

+ * mid-15th century – cherry red.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1620s – the tree.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1928 – virginity (slang).^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A small round fruit with a stone, usually red or black.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A tree of the genus ''Prunus'' bearing such fruit, or its wood.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A bright red colour.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(slang)'' Virginity, or the [[hymen]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Of a bright red colour.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[cherrylike]]

+ * [[cherry-pick]]

+ * [[cherrystone]]

+ * [[cherrywood]]

+ * [[cherry bomb]]

+ * [[cherry picker]]

+ * [[cherry pie]]

+ * [[cherry red]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[cerise]]

+ * [[pea]]

+ * [[kirsch]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}