Fruits

A fruit is the mature ovary of a flowering plant and plays a crucial role in spreading the plant’s seeds. It forms after the flower is fertilized. In this post, we will explore the origins of terms related to fleshy fruits that have a soft, edible part. Berries have a separate post here. The term fruit also includes nuts (which are hard-shelled seeds), and grains (the seeds of cereal plants).

Melons and apples of discord

This is like comparing apples and oranges! Notice that in Italian is quite obvious that mela (apples) and melone (melon) are closed related etymologically. The Greek word μῆλον (mâlon) generally meant fruit but particularly was used for apples. Thus it is still present in some fruit’s names: For example, Spanish melocotón “peach” (see below).

Just above this text we are showing the map of Cucumis melo (known as melon) from Greek Μῆλον ´Πεπων (Melon Pepon). Most languages retain the first part, but some language in the Balkan peninsula took the second.

Some Slavic languages and Hungarian, however, use a totally different Greek root: Κυδωνιον Μῆλον (Kudṓnion Mêlon). It means “Cydonian apple”, which evolved in English (and other languages) into “quince” (see bellow). This is as messy and it sounds.

Turkic languages share their own root. Not Greek at all, coming as far away as from the Himalayas: It is possible that comes from Tibetan ག་གོན (ga gon) a word for melon and gourd.

Apricots, plums, and peaches can be disconcerting

What a big mess!

Plums, peaches, and apricots belong to the same family, genus Prunus. It is not surprising since they are very similar. More surprising is that cherries, nectarines, and almonds also belong to this group. However, the most surprising fact is that their etymologies are entangled. Most languages derived the word apricot from Arabic al-barquq, which literally translates as “the-plum”. The word was taken from Byzantine Greek berikokkia which is probably from Latin (mālum) praecoquum “early-ripening (apple, fruit)”. The reason is the apricots ripen earlier in summer.

Its scientific name, Prunus armeniaca, reminds us that for many centuries it was believed to be from Armenia. It was cultivated there from Ancient times, but now we know that the domestication happened somewhere in Central Asia. Later Alexander the Great introduced them to Europe.

Another confusing etymology is that both fruits are supposed to be from Damascus. Unlike other Slavic languages, that use a word derived from Sliva for plums (Prunus domestica), Czechs use švestka, an adaptation of the German word Zwetschge, a type of plum, which originated from Latin damascēna and from Ancient Greek δαμασκηνά (damaskēná) “damascene plums”. Modern Greek δαμάσκηνο (damáskino). But in Portuguese and Spanish Damascos are apricots! It is simply shocking to discover that plums in Portuguese and Galician are etymologically related to Czech and Greek: Latin damascēna (prūna) > Vulgar Latin damascina > Old Portuguese dameja > Modern Portuguese ameixa.

It also happens in Turkic languages: ərik is an apricot in Azerbaijani (and similarly in Kazakh, Tatar, and Bashkir). But erik is plum in Turkish.

Is it really Persian?

Peach has a quite homogenous etymological map. Only a few languages adopted a term that does not come from Latin Persica (Persian). Like many other fruits, even if the Romans believed it was from what is nowadays Iran, the truth is that it comes from China. Slavic languages borrowed the word through a series of deep transformations. So Polish brzoskwinia, despite seeming to be very different, it comes from the same root. The same happens to Hungarian barack.

American Spanish and Greek share another Latin root: dūrusacinus, meaning “hard berry or grape”. Most Turkic languages borrowed from Persian šaftālu which originally meant “milk plum”. Kurdish uses this term along with the Arabic one, Kawka, which in ancient times might have meant “Thornbush”. Another metaphor is present in some Celtic languages where they called something like the “woolly fruit” (either plum o apple, depending on the specific language, check the legend). Finally, in Spanish from Spain, we can find the term melocotón, whose etymological root will appear again in this post, since it comes from the Latin malum cotonium, the name that received quince. The name comes from Kydonia, a city in Crete. However, it might appear to be from “cotton”, although this might be a folk etymology. In the Spanish Wikipedia, we can read:

“Prunus persica, originalmente Amygdalus persica L., melocotonero (del latín malus cotonus, «manzana algodonosa» —en alusión a la piel del fruto—)”

https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prunus_persica

The Mediterranean Triad

The Mediterranean basin, where important civilizations began, has given us a unique legacy called the Triad: grapes, olives, and grains. These three elements represent the heart of the region’s abundant agricultural history, as well as its religious and culinary traditions. They serve as the basic ingredients for producing three essential food products: wine, oil, and bread.

Grape

In Latin, “uva” evolved from the Proto-Indo-European root *h₁eyHw- meaning yew, willow, and grapes or vine. As the Roman Empire expanded its influence, Latin terminologies related to viticulture and winemaking spread across Europe. The Latin word “uva” remained the same for millennia, in Italian, Portuguese & Spanish, but in other Romance languages was different: For example, in French “raisin” or Catalan “raïm” comes from Latin racēmus “bunch of grapes“

Similarly the English word “grape” ultimately finds its origins in Old French “grape” or “grappe,” which means a cluster of fruit or flowers, particularly a bunch of grapes. The word itself comes from the verb “graper” or “caper,” meaning “to pick grapes,” from Frankish word *krappō, which means “hook.” Another example is the words derived from Proto-Slavic grozdъ “cluster, bunch”.

The association between grapes and wine was so strong that it extended beyond the borders of the empire, leading to the incorporation of the Latin word vinum meaning “wine,” into the vocabulary of Germanic and Slavic languages. Notable examples include Icelandic (vínber), Polish (winogrono) and Russian (vinograd, виноград).

Olive

Fig

Aubergine or eggplant

Why do some English speakers say “aubergine,” while in America, “eggplant” is more common?

Aubergine is also used in French and German. Other languages have different names, like Spanish “berenjena” or Catalan “albergínia.” Despite these differences, etymology often reveals a common origin: Sanskrit word वातिगगम (vātigagama), literally “the plant that cures the wind. Some words are very similar to the original like Persian word بَادِنْگَان (bādingān)or Turkish “patlican.” Some other variations are unexpected. For example, the Italian “melanzana” added “mela” (apple) to the Arabic “bāḏinjān.”

Egg-shaped

It may also be surprising that some languages, particularly Nordic ones, use “eggplant.” For example, Norwegian “eggfrukt” (egg-fruit). While we often picture a purple aubergine, some varieties are white, and when they begin to grow, they actually resemble a small white egg.

The citrics

Lemon

Lemons appeared for the first time in northeast India. The name is originally Sanskrit, Nimbu, which means lemon and lime. We can not know for sure. Then it reached Europe thanks to Persians, Ottomans , and especially Arabs. According to some sources as early as the 2nd century. However, the original term might have come from even further, from nowadays Malaysia. Genetic studies support this theory.

In the center and north of Europe, another root exists, like in Latin citrus. It comes from Ancient Greek for cedar: kedros. Apparently, in Athens, the smell of citric and thujas was similar. The ultimate origin is completely unknown, but some suspect it might be some kind of borrowing from a Semitic language.

As we mentioned above the Romans called them citron and later it became the scientific term for a genus (citrus), an acid (citric), a grass (citronella), or a mineral (citrine).

New world

Tomato

Aztecs, Spainards & Italians

Wild tomatoes (Solanum pimpinellifolium) are native to western South America. However, the domesticated tomatoes we use today originated with the Aztecs in Mesoamerica. The Spanish were the first to introduce small yellow tomatoes to Europe. What should this new fruit be called? Most languages, including Spanish, adopted the Aztec word from Nahuatl, tomatl, meaning “the swelling fruit.”

The Italians had a different idea. Pietro Andrea Mattioli initially suggested that this new fruit was a type of eggplant. In some languages, tomatoes—especially those with a purplish hue—are still associated with aubergines. Later, Mattioli proposed a different nickname: pomi d’oro, or “golden apples.” You can see on the map it is really popular label.

Love & Hate

Today, tomatoes are one of the most popular vegetables, in some languages they are even called “love apples” (a term that was once used in English). In many Central European languages, the word for tomato is derived from or a calque of the German Paradiesapfel, meaning “Paradise apple.”

However, tomatoes were not always so well-regarded. Names like “wolf-apples” in English or the scientific Latin name lycopersicum (which means “wolf-peach“), remind us that tomatoes were once considered toxic.

Courgette or zucchini

A “small marrow”, scientifically known as Cucurbita pepo, is descended from squashes first domesticated in Mesoamerica over 7,000 years ago. There are three words in English: courgette, zucchini, and baby marrow. Does it sound different? First two share the same origin. The word courgette was borrowed from French, while zucchini comes from the Italian plural nouns zucchino or zucchina. Interestingly, both terms descend from the Latin cucurbita, meaning “gourd.” French influence spread the term courgette across Western Europe (Portuguese curgete or Irish cuiséad), whereas the Italian zucchini became more popular in Central Europe (Hungarian cukkinni or Czech cuketa). In Eastern Europe, the most common root is the Turkish word kabak, a diminutive of *kab “cover, container”

In many languages, the vegetable is referred to as a “small pumpkin.” For example, Spanish uses calabaza and calabacín, Serbian uses tikva / Тиква and tikvica / Тиквица, and Armenian uses դդում (ddum) and դդմիկ (ddmik).