Culture > Food > Fruit

Now updated for CSW19. New words, if any, and new inflections of existing words, are shown in red.

abricock apricock an apricot.
acai a berry found in the Brazilian rainforest, aka palm berry: ACAIS.
ackee akee a small African sapindaceous tree, now common in the W Indies; its edible fruit, often used in Caribbean cookery.
acorn the fruit of the oak, from which a bitter coffee can be made.
acorned bearing acorns.
aguacate an AVOCADO pear.
ajowan ajwan the fruit of an Egyptian plant of the caraway genus.
akee see ACKEE.
algaroba algarroba algarrobo the carob, a leguminous tree of the Mediterranean region; its edible beans or pods. The pl. of ALGARROBO is ALGARROBOS.
almond the fruit, and esp the kernel, of a tree related to the peach.
almondy having an almond flavour > ALMONDIER, ALMONDIEST.
amarelle a kind of sour cherry.
amygdal (obs.) an almond.
anana ananas the pineapple plant. The pl. of ANANAS is ANANASES.
aniseed the dried fruit of anise; a cordial made from this.
apple the firm round edible fruit of the apple tree.
appley resembling or tasting of apple > APPLIER, APPLIEST.
apricock see ABRICOCK.
apricot a fruit of the plum genus, roundish, orange-coloured, with a downy skin.
atemoya a tropical fruit of a tree that is a hybrid of the SWEETSOP and the CHERIMOYA.
avocado a rough-skinned pear-shaped edible fruit. [Sp. from Nahuatl ahuacatl]. Pl. AVOCADOS or AVOCADOES.
babaco a subtropical five-sided fruit related to the PAPAYA. Pl. BABACOS.
bakeapple the fruit of the CLOUDBERRY.
banana a gigantic tree-like herbaceous plant or its nutritious yellow fruit which grows in hanging bunches.
bayberry the fruit of the bay tree or Laurus nobilis.
beaufin biffin a variety of red cooking apple.
beernut a peanut with a sweet coating.
bergamot a variety of pear; also a citrus tree, bearing fruit similar to an orange, from the rind of which a fragrant essence is prepared.
betelnut the ARECA nut.
beurre a pear with the meat soft and melting.
biffin see BEAUFIN.
bigarade a bitter Seville orange.
bigaroon the large white-heart cherry.
bigarreau any of several heart-shaped varieties of cherry: BIGARREAUS.
bilberry a whortleberry shrub; its dark-blue edible berry.
bilimbi bilimbing blimbing an E. Indian tree of the wood-sorrel family; its sour green fruit, aka STARFRUIT, used in chutneys.
blackberry the fruit of the bramble.
blackcurrant the small black berry of the garden shrub Ribes nigrum of the gooseberry genus.
blackheart a heart-shaped CHERRY with a very dark-colored skin.
blaeberry the BILBERRY.
blanquet a variety of pear.
blueberry the edible fruit of Vaccinium vacillans and other American species.
boysenberry a fruit growing on a bramble, a hybrid of certain raspberries and blackberries.
brasil brazil an oily, three-sided nut, the seed of the Bertholletia excelsa.
breadfruit a fruit found in the Pacific.
breadnut a tropical fruit.
buffaloberry an American shrub of the oleaster family; its edible scarlet berry.
bullace a small wild plum fruit and tree.
bumbleberry a mixture of berries used in pie fillings and in preserves.
butternut an American tree of the Walnut family, and its edible fruit; -- so called from the oil contained in the latter.
cackleberry a kind of berry > CACKLEBERRIES.
calabaza a variety of squash.
calamansi kalamansi a citrus hybrid predominantly cultivated in the Philippines, aka calamondin.
calamata an aubergine-coloured Greek olive. Also KALAMATA.
calamondin a small citrus tree, native to the Philippines; its acid-tasting orange-like fruit. [Tagalog kalamunding].
candlenut the oil-yielding fruit of a tropical tree.
canefruit fruit borne upon canes, such as raspberries.
canistel a Caribbean fruit.
cantaloupe cantaloup a small musk melon with a ribbed skin. Named from the Roman town of Cantalupo.
caprifig the goat-fig, a species of wild fig.
capsicum a plant yielding (e.g. red or green) peppers; its fruit.
carambola a small E Indian tree of the wood-sorrel family; its acrid yellow pulpy fruit used for making tarts, preserves, etc (aka star fruit).
carob the sweet-flavoured seed of an evergreen tree, also called locust bean. [Arabic kharrubah].
casaba cassaba a kind of melon. [From a town in W. Turkey].
cashaw a kind of pumpkin. [Algonquin].
cashew a large tree native to tropical America and cultivated for its edible kidney-shaped nuts; the nut itself. [Tupi (a)caju)].
cassaba see CASABA.
cedrate a variety of CITRON or lemon.
cherimoya cherimoyer chirimoya a Peruvian fruit resembling the custard apple. [Sp. f. Quechua, f. chiri cold, refreshing + muya circle].
cherry a small fleshy fruit having a large hard stone; (verb) (Spenser) to cheer; (adj.) like a cherry in colour: CHERRIER, CHERRIEST.
chesil a variety of pear, greenish in colour.
chesnut chestnut a tree of genus Castanea, esp the Spanish or sweet chestnut; its edible nut, encased (three together) in a prickly husk.
chirimoya see CHERIMOYA.
chokeberry a small astringent fruit of various N American shrubs related to the apple.
chokecherry an astringent American cherry.
citrange a hybrid of a CITRON and an orange.
citron the fruit of the citron tree, resembling a lemon.
citrous relating to the CITRON, a fruit resembling a lemon.
citrussy of or like citrus fruit< CITRUSSIER, CITRUSSIEST
citrusy of or like citrus fruit > CITRUSIER, CITRUSIEST.
clementine a hybrid of ORANGE and TANGERINE.
cloudberry a species of raspberry (Rubus Chamaemerous) growing in the northern regions, and bearing edible, amber-colored fruit.
cobnut a large roundish variety of the cultivated hazelnut.
cocoanut coconut cokernut the large, hard-shelled nut of the cocoa palm.
coconutty having the flavour of coconut > COCONUTTIER, COCONUTTIEST.
cocoplum a W. Indian rosaceous tree; its edible fruit. [Sp. icaco + plum].
cocozelle a variety of SQUASH.
codling an unripe apple.
cokernut see COCOANUT.
colombard a kind of grape used to make wine.
comice a variety of pear.
costard an apple, large and round like the head.
cowberry the red WHORTLEBERRY.
crabapple a small sour wild apple.
crakeberry another name for CROWBERRY.
cranapple designating a combination of cranberry and apple.
cranberry the red acid berry of a small evergreen shrub (Vaccinium oxycoccos), made into sauces and jellies.
crenshaw a variety of melon.
crookneck a SQUASH with a long recurved neck.
cubeb the pungent berry of a S.E. Asian shrub of the pepper family, used in medicine and cookery.
cumquat kumquat any of several small yellow to orange citrus fruits with sweet spongy rind and somewhat acid pulp that are used chiefly for preserves.
currant a small black RAISIN or dried seedless grape.
curranty full of currants > CURRANTIER, CURRANTIEST.
cushaw a kind of pumpkin.
cymbling cymlin , cymling, simlin a variety of squash.
damson a rather small, oval, dark-purple plum, or the tree producing it.
dewberry a fruit like a blackberry, with a bluish, dew-like bloom.
dika (the fruit or seed of) the wild mango, a W. African tree. [Mpongwe odika condiment.]
dolcetto a variety of grape for making wine.
durian durion a tree of the BOMBAX family, widely grown in tropical Asia; the spinous fruit of this, the pulp of which is foul-smelling but palatable. [Malay duri, prickle].
earthpea the peanut.
eggfruit an aubergine.
elderberry the fruit of the elder, used in wine-making.
fig a squishy sort of fruit with a lot of seeds.
figgy full of figs < FIGGIER, FIGGIEST.
figlike resembling a fig.
filberd filbert a kind of hazel-nut.
fraughan the whortleberry.
fruict (obs.) fruit.
fruit an edible part of a plant, generally sweet, acid and juicy, esp a part that contains the seed, but sometimes extended to include other parts (e.g. the leaf-stalk in rhubarb).
fruitery fruit, taken collectively.
fruitful bearing fruit > FRUITFULLER, FRUITFULLEST.
fruity tasting of fruit > FRUITIER, FRUITIEST.
genip genipap a large rubiaceous W. Indian tree; its orange-sized, wine-flavoured fruit.
goji the vitamin-rich berry of a solanaceous Chinese plant, aka wolfberry .
goldenberry the Cape gooseberry or strawberry tomato.
goober a peanut. [Bantu origin].
gooseberry the small oval fruit (usu green) of the gooseberry-bush, a prickly shrub of the saxifrage family.
goosegob goosegog a gooseberry.
gourd a large hard-rinded fleshy fruit characteristic of the cucumber family.
gourdlike like a GOURD, a large hard-rinded fleshy fruit characteristic of the cucumber family.
granadilla grenadilla the fruit of certain species of passion flower found in Brazil and the West Indies.
grapefruit a large, round, yellow-skinned citrus fruit, so called because it grows in large bunches like grapes.
grapelike like a grape.
grapey grapy made of or like grapes > GRAPIER, GRAPIEST
grapiness the quality of being grape-like.
greengage a green and very sweet variety of plum, or the tree producing it.
greening a variety of apple.
grenache a kind of black grape; a red wine made from this.
grenadilla see GRANADILLA.
groser grosert groset grossart a gooseberry.
groundnut the peanut or monkey-nut (Arachis).
guava a small tropical myrtaceous tree; its yellow, pear-shaped fruit.
haanepoot hanepoot honeypot a kind of grape. [Dutch haane-poot, cockfoot].
hautbois hautboy a large kind of strawberry.
hazelnut the nut of the hazel.
hep a rosehip; (adj.) knowing, streetwise > HEPPER, HEPPEST.
hindberry the raspberry.
honeybell a hybrid of a tangerine and a pomelo, or grapefruit.
honeydew a type of melon.
honeydewed covered with HONEYDEW, a sugary substance excreted by aphids and other insects.
honeypot a kind of grape. [Dutch haane-poot, cockfoot].
huckleberry an American shrub of the heath family; its edible blue-black fruit.
hurtleberry another name for WHORTLEBERRY.
inkberry the fruit of any of various N. American shrubs.
jack jak a tree of the East Indies of the breadfruit genus; its fruit. [Portuguese jaca, from Malayalam chakka].
jakfruit the fruit of the JAK tree.
jargonel jargonelle an early pear.
jenneting juneating an early type of apple.
kaki a fruit like a persimmon.
kalamata an aubergine-coloured Greek olive. Also CALAMATA.
kalumpit a Philippine tree of the MYROBALAN genus; its edible fruit.
karaka a New Zealand tree with edible orange fruit whose seeds are poisonous until treated.
kiwifruit the edible green fruit of the Chinese gooseberry.
konini the edible dark purple berry of the KOTUKUTUKU or tree fuchsia.
kumquat see CUMQUAT.
labrusca a fox grape > LABRUSCAS.
leechee lichi lichee litchi lychee a Chinese fruit.
lemon a pale yellow oval citrus fruit with sour-tasting flesh; (verb) to flavour with lemon.
lemonish like lemon.
lemonlike like a lemon.
lemony like a lemon in shape or flavour > LEMONIER, LEMONIEST.
lichee see LEECHEE.
lichi see LEECHEE.
lime a tropical citrus tree; its small nearly globular fruit, with acid-tasting flesh; (verb) to treat with lime.
lingberry the red whortleberry. Also COWBERRY.
lingonberry the cowberry or red whortleberry, esp as used in Scandinavian cookery. [Swedish lingon, cowberry].
litchi see LEECHEE.
loganberry a hybrid between a raspberry and a Pacific coast blackberry.
longan lungan a pulpy fruit related to the litchi, and produced by an evergreen East Indian tree. [Chinese lung-yen, dragon's eye].
lychee see LEECHEE.
macadamia a kind of nut grown in Australia.
madafu coconut milk.
malvasia a type of grape from which MALMSEY is made.
malvasian relating to MALVASIA, a type of grape from which MALMSEY is made.
mamee mamey mamie mammee mammey a tropical plant having an edible fruit with bright yellow pulp. Th pl. of MAMEY is MAMEYS or MAMEYES.
mandarin mandarine a small orange of Chinese orange.
mango a tropical tree of the cashew-nut family; its yellowish-red fleshy fruit. Pl. MANGOS or MANGOES.
mangosteen a large reddish orange-like fruit of E. Indies.
marasca a bitter wild cherry.
marionberry a hybrid fruit, a cross between a loganberry and a wild blackberry. [From Marion County, Oregon, where it was developed].
marron a large CHESTNUT.
matoke matooke in Uganda, plantain used as a staple food.
maypop the edible fruit of a passion flower, an oval yellowish berry as large as a small apple.
mazard mazzard a kind of small black cherry.
mebos in S. Africa, salted or sugared dried apricots. [Possibly from Japanese umeboshi, a kind of plum]. Pl. MEBOSES.
medlar a small tree related to the apple; its fruit.
melicotton melocoton melocotoon a kind of large peach.
melon any of several juicy, edible gourds.
melony like a melon > MELONIER, MELONIEST.
mineola minneola a variety of citrus fruit developed from a tangerine and a grapefruit.
mirabelle a European species of plum-tree; the small, yellow, firm-fleshed fruit of this.
mockernut a kind of hickory nut.
monstera a kind of fruit, grown in Queensland and the West Indies.
morello a kind of nearly black cherry with dark red flesh and juice, -- used chiefly for preserving. Pl. MORELLOS.
mourvedre (French) a variety of red wine grape.
mulberry any of various trees of the genus Morus, esp. Morus nigra, grown for its purple, succulent fruit.
muskmelon the fruit of the melon, esp. a variety with netted rind and aromatic flesh.
myrobalan the astringent fruit of an Indian tree; the cherry-plum.
naartje nartjie naartjie a small sweet orange like the mandarin. [Afk. f. Tamil narattai citrus].
naras narras an edible melonlike fruit of a S. African shrub.
nartjie see NAARTJE.
naseberry neesberry nisberry an edible fruit, the SAPODILLA.
nashi an Asian pear.
nectarine a fruit resembling a peach.
neesberry see NASEBERRY.
nelies nelis a winter pear. Pl. NELIES, NELIS.
nickernut the nut of the bonduc tree.
nisberry see NASEBERRY.
nonpareil a fine variety of apple; also, generally, a thing of unequalled excellence; a paragon.
nut popularly, any fruit with an edible seed in a hard shell.
nutlet a small nut.
nutlike like a nut.
nutmeal meal made from nuts.
nutmeat the edible part of a nut.
nutshell the shell of a nut.
nuttiness the quality of being NUTTY.
nutting the act of gathering nuts.
nutty tasting like a nut > NUTTIER, NUTTIEST.
oilnut the buffalo nut.
olive the small oval stoned fruit of the olive tree, yellowish-green when unripe, ripening to a shiny black, with bitter-tasting flesh.
orange a reddish-yellow fruit with tough skin, within which are juicy segments.
orleans a variety of plum.
ortanique a cross between an orange and a tangerine.
oxheart a large heart-shaped cherry, either black, red, or white.
pampelmoose pampelmouse pompelmoose pompelmous pompelmouse pompelo pomelo pumelo pummelo the shaddock or grapefruit. The pl. of POMPELO etc. is in -S. The pl. of PAMPELMOUSE is, rather sadly, PAMPELMOUSES and not PAMPELMICE*.
pampoen a pumpkin.
papaw papaya pawpaw a tree of the custard-apple family; its fruit.
papayan like a PAPAYA.
pattypan a round flattish variety of squash.
pawpaw see PAPAW, PAPAYA.
peaberry a small round coffee seed, growing singly.
peach a sweet, juicy, velvety-skinned stone-fruit; (verb) to inform against; to turn informer.
peachily pEACHY.
peachy coloured or tasting somewhat of peach > PEACHIER, PEACHIEST.
peanut the edible seed of a S American plant (Arachis), developing in pods underground.
pear a fruit, a pome tapering towards the stalk and bulged at the end.
pearmain a type of apple.
pecan a kind of nut.
pembina the bush cranberry, Viburnum trilobum. [Cree].
pepino a purple-striped pale yellow fruit with sweet flesh > PEPINOS.
pepita the dried seed of a pumpkin or squash.
pepo peponida peponium any fleshy fruit with a firm rind, as a pumpkin, melon, or gourd. The pl. of PEPO is PEPOS.
persimmon a kind of plum-like fruit.
picholine a variety of olive.
pieplant another name for RHUBARB.
pignoli pignolia the edible kernels of pine cones.
pili pilinut a kind of nut.
pineapple a large S American multiple fruit with tough spiny skin.
pinon pinyon an edible pine seed; the tree bearing it. The pl. of PINON is PINONS or PINONES.
pinotage a variety of grape grown mainly in S. Africa, produced by crossing Pinot with another grape.
pippin a kind of apple.
pistachio a kind of tree, or its edible nut-like fruit.
plantain a musaceous plant; its fruit, a coarse green-skinned banana used as a staple food in tropical countries.
plum an oval drupe or stone-fruit with juicy, sweet-tasting yellowish flesh.
plumcot pluot a hybrid of a plum and an apricot.
plumdamas a damson > PLUMDAMASES.
plumlike like a plum.
pomace crushed apples for cider-making.
pomato a tomato grafted on to a potato >POMATOES.
pome any fruit of the apple family e.g. apple, quince.
pomelike resembling a pome.
pomelo see PAMPELMOOSE.
pomeroy pomroy an old variety of apple.
pompelmoose see PAMPELMOOSE.
pompelmous see PAMPELMOOSE.
pompelmouse see PAMPELMOOSE.
pompelo see PAMPELMOOSE.
pompion pumpion a pumpkin.
pomroy see POMEROY.
pomwater a sweet juicy apple.
poperin poppering poprin a variety of pear. POPRIN does not take -S.
prune a dried plum. Older forms of the name are PROIN, PROINE, PRUINE, PROYN, PROYNE, PREWYN. (Verb) to cut esp. plants.
prunello a fine kind of prune, esp. one made from a greengage > PRUNELLOS.
pruney resmbling a prune > PRUNIER, PRUNIEST.
pumelo pummelo see PAMPELMOOSE.
pumpion see POMPION.
pumpkin punkin a plant of the gourd family, or its fruit.
quarenden quarender quarrender quarrington a kind of early red apple.
quince an orange-coloured, pear-shaped fruit.
raisin a dried grape.
raisiny full of raisins > RAISINIER, RAISINIEST.
rambutan a tree of the same family as the LYCHEE; its fruit. [Malay rambut, hair].
rareripe rathripe ratheripe a fruit that ripens early.
raspberry the fruit of Rubus idaeus.
ratheripe see RARERIPE.
rathripe see RARERIPE.
razzberry raspberry.
redcurrant the small red berry of a shrub of the gooseberry genus.
redstreak a favorite English cider apple, having the skin streaked with red and yellow.
reinette a name given to many different kinds of apples, mostly of French origin.
rennet 1. a type of apple. Also REINETTE. 2. any means of curdling milk, especially a preparation of calf's stomach.
rhapontic the common rhubarb.
rhubarb any species of the genus Rheum; the leaf-stalks cooked and used as if fruit.
rhubarby like rhubarb. No comp!
ribier a large black grape.
ribston ribstone a variety of winter apple brought from Normandy to Ribston Hall in Yorkshire.
rizard rizzar rizzart rizzer (Scots) a redcurrant. RIZZER and RIZZAR (along with RIZZOR) are also a verb: to dry in the sun.
rosehip the fruit of the wild rose.
ruddock a variety of apple; also a dialect name for the robin.
russeting a russet apple.
sabra a prickly-pear fruit; also, a native Israeli.
saligot the water chestnut.
salmonberry a salmon-coloured N. American raspberry.
sapodilla sapota zapotilla the edible fruit of a Mexican tree.
saskatoon an amelanchier of western N. America; the sweet purple edible berry of this shrub. [Cree].
satsuma a small citrus fruit.
scaldberry the blackberry (from a belief that it causes SCALDHEAD).
sebesten an oriental boraginaceous tree; its edible plumlike fruit. [Arabic sebastan].
seckel seckle a small reddish brown sweet and juicy pear. [From a farm near Philadelphia, afterwards owned by a Mr. Seckel].
semillon a grape used to make wine.
serviceberry the fruit of a N. American tree of genus Amelanchier.
shadberry the edible fruit of the SHADBUSH.
shaddock a grapefruit-like tree and fruit.
sharon as in sharon fruit, persimmon. No -S.
sheepberry the edible fruit of a small North American tree of the genus Viburnum (V. Lentago), having white flowers in flat cymes; also, the tree itself.
shiraz a type of red grape, aka SYRAH.
simlin see CYMLIN.
slae a sloe.
sloe the fruit of the blackthorn.
soursop a W. Indian tree of the Anona species; its large, sour, pulpy fruit.
spanspek a sweet tough-skinned melon.
spartan a crisp red-skinned eating apple of a variety originally bred in Canada to withstand cold winters.
spiceberry any of several plants having spicy edible berries.
squash the fruit of various marrow-like plants of the genus Cucurbita, with edible flesh; (verb) to press into pulp.
starfruit the fruit of the CARAMBOLA tree.
strawberry the fruit of any species of the rosaceous genus Fragaria.
sturmer a variety of dessert apple. [From Sturmer in Essex where it was developed].
sultana a small, pale, seedless raisin.
sunberry a cross between a blackberry and a raspberry.
sweeting a sweet apple; (arch.) a darling.
sweetsop a tropical American evergreen; its sweet fruit.
tamarillo the tree tomato > TAMARILLOS.
tangelo a hybrid between a tangerine orange and a POMELO > TANGELOS.
tangerine a mandarin orange, esp. a small, flattish, loose-skinned variety.
tayberry a hybrid plant, a blackberry crossed with a raspberry; the fruit of this plant.
thimbleberry any of several American raspberries or blackberries having thimble-shaped fruit.
tomatillo a plant of the nightshade family, native to Mexico > TOMATILLOES or TOMATILLOS.
tomato a S. American plant related to the potato, formerly called the love apple; its glossy red or yellow pulpy edible fruit > TOMATOES.
tomatoey resembling the tomato > TOMATOIER, TOMATOIEST.
trebbiano a grape used to make wine > TREBBIANOS.
ume (Japanese) a fleshy yellow fruit, similar to an apricot but having a sour flavour, used mainly to make drinks, preserves, and sauces > UMES.
umeboshi (Japanese) a pickled ume fruit > UMEBOSHIS.
uva a grape or grape-like berry > UVAE or UVAS.
vinifera a European grape.
walnut the nut of the walnut tree.
wampee an edible Asiatic fruit about the size of a large grape, with a hard yellow rind. [Chinese hwang-pi, yellow skin].
warden a kind of pear used in cooking; (verb) to guard as a warden.
watermelon a type of melon.
whimberry whinberry the bilberry or whortleberry -- so called because it grows on moors among the whins, or furze.
whort whortle whortleberry a widely spread heath plant; its dark blue edible berry.
wineberry the red currant.
winesap a variety of apple.
worcesterberry a N American species of gooseberry.
ya a kind of Asian pear > YAS.
youngberry a large reddish-black fruit, a cross between a blackberry and a dewberry.
yumberry the purple-red edible fruit of an E. Indian tree.
yuzu a type of citrus fruit.
zapotilla see SAPODILLA.