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cherry

/ˈt͡ʃɛɹi/ noun

In Latin: cerasum Wiktionary

noun Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about cherry at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

  1. Wood of any of various cherry trees especially the black cherry.
  2. Any of numerous trees and shrubs producing a small fleshy round fruit with a single hard stone; many also produce a valuable hardwood.
  3. A red fruit with a single hard stone.

adjective

  1. Of a color at the end of the color spectrum (next to orange); resembling the color of blood or cherries or tomatoes or rubies.

Origin

From Middle English chery, cherie, chirie, from Anglo-Norman cherise (mistaken as a plural) and Old English ċiris, ċirse (“cherry”), from Proto-West Germanic *kirsijā, from Vulgar Latin ceresia, derived from Late Latin ceresium, cerasium, from Ancient Greek κεράσιον (kerásion, “cherry fruit”), from κερασός (kerasós, “bird cherry”), and ultimately possibly of Anatolian origin (the intervocalic σ suggests a pre-Greek origin for the word). Doublet of cerise, Giresun, and kirsch.

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)