NAMES, HISTORIES, AND CLASSIFICATION. 247 

 4. Derivation of the Names of Various Fruits and Vegetables 



A. FRUITS. 



Apple. — Anglo-Saxon, cBppel. 



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 groseherrij or groiseberrij, 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, miilber, 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. — Piriim, the Latin name. 

 Plum. — Anglo-Saxon, plume ; indirectly from Latin prumim^ 



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 fragiim, fragrant, 



B. VEGETABLES. 



Artichoke. — Italian, articiocco ; indirectly from the Arabic. 

 Asparagus. — The Latin name, from the Greek. 

 Bean. — The Anglo-Saxon name. 



