NAMES, HISTORIES, AND CLASSIFICATION. 247 



4. Derivation of the Names of Various Fruits and Vegetables 

 A. FRUITS. 



Apple. Anglo-Saxon, ceppel. 



Apricot. Indirectly from Latin prcecoquum, early-ripe. 



Blackberry. From the color of the fruit. 



Cherry. Anglo-Saxon, cirse. 



Cranberry. Crane-berry, from the slender pedicel of the 



European species. 

 Currant. Corruption of Corinth, Greece, whence came the 



"dried currants" (grapes), which were once called 



Corinths. 

 Gooseberry. Probably from groseberry or groiseberry, from 



Old French groisele, the currant and gooseberry. 

 Grape. French, grappe ; allied to the word grapple. 

 Lemon. French, limon, indirectly from the Arabic. 

 Mulberry. German, mulber, indirectly from Latin morus, a 



mulberry tree. 

 Nectarine. Nectar-like. 



Orange. From the Arabic, through the French. 

 Peach. Corruption of Persia, whence the fruit was early 



obtained. 



Pear. Pirum, the Latin name. 

 Plum. Anglo-Saxon, plume; indirectly from Latin prunum, 



a plum. 

 Quince. Corruption of Cydonia, the Latin name, from 



Cydon. 



Raspberry. From rasp, referring to the prickles. 

 Strawberry. In early times the berries were strung on 



straws when sold. This is a folk-explanation, but is erro- 

 neous. Evidently associated with Latin fragum, fragrant, 



B. VEGETABLES. 



Artichoke. Italian, articiocco ; indirectly from the Arabic. 

 Asparagus. The Latin name, from the Greek. 

 Bean. The Anglo-Saxon name. 



