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Origin and history of cherry

cherry(n.)

pulpy drupe of a well-known type of tree, c. 1300, earlier in surname Chyrimuth (1266, literally "Cherry-mouth"); from Anglo-French cherise, from Old North French cherise (Old French, Modern French cerise, 12c.), from Vulgar Latin *ceresia, from late Greek kerasian "cherry," from Greek kerasos "cherry tree," which is possibly from a language of Asia Minor. Beekes writes, "As the improved cherry came from the Pontos area ..., the name is probably Anatolian as well."

It was mistaken in Middle English for a plural and stripped of its -s (compare pea). Old English had ciris "cherry" from a West Germanic borrowing of the Vulgar Latin word (cognate with German Kirsch), but it died out after the Norman invasion and was replaced by the French word.

Short for cherry-tree from 1620s. As an adjective, "of the color of a cherry," mid-15c.

The meaning "maidenhead, virginity" is by 1928, U.S. slang, from supposed resemblance to the hymen, but perhaps also from the long-time use of cherries as a symbol of the fleeting quality of life's pleasures (and compare English underworld slang cherry "young girl," attested from 1889). Cherry-bounce, popular name of a cordial made from fermented cherries, is from 1690s.

also from c. 1300

Entries linking to cherry

pea(n.)

"the seed of a hardy leguminous vine," a well-known article of food, early or mid-17c., a false singular from Middle English pease (plural pesen), which was both single and collective (as wheat, corn) but the "s" sound was mistaken for the plural inflection. From Old English pise (West Saxon), piose (Mercian) "pea," from Late Latin pisa, variant of Latin pisum "pea," probably a loan-word from Greek pison "the pea," a word of unknown origin (Klein suggests it is from Thracian or Phrygian).

In Southern U.S. and the Caribbean, used of other legumes as well. Pea soup "soup made from peas" is recorded by 1711 (as pease-soup); the term was applied to London fogs at least since 1849. Pea-green as a hue resembling fresh peas is by 1752. Pea-shooter "toy consisting of a long straw or tube through which dried peas may be blown" is attested from 1803.

cerise(adj.)

"cherry-colored," 1853, from French cerise, from rouge-cerise "cherry-red," from cerise "cherry" (see cherry). As a noun in reference to a shade of red, 1852.

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cherry-pick
"to select the very best selfishly," 1959 (implied in cherry-picking), American English (Billboard magazine), a pejorative figurative sense, from cherry (n.) + pick (v.). Related: Cherry-picked. Cherry-picker as a name for a crane with a bucket for raising and lowering persons (a
red
"of a bright, warm color resembling that of blood or of the highest part of the primery rainbow" [Century Dictionary], Middle English rēd, redde, read, reid, from Old English rēad, used of various shades of purple, crimson, scarlet, pink, etc.; also red clothes, dye, ink, wine, o
carmine
1712, "pure red dyestuff obtained from cochineal," from French carmin (12c.), from Medieval Latin carminium, from Arabic qirmiz "crimson" (see kermes, also compare crimson (n.)). The form was influenced in Latin by minium "red lead, cinnabar," a word said to be of Iberian origin.
maraschino
1778, "cherry liqueur," especially a type originating around Zara in Dalmatia, distilled from or flavored with marasca cherries..., from Italian maraschino "strong, sweet liqueur made from juice of the marasca" (a bitter black cherry), a shortening of...They however have excellent Marasche, a kind of cherry, the nut of which gives a particular flavour to the spirituous liquor...[Alberto Fortis, "Travels into Dalmatia," London, 1778] Maraschino cherry, one preserved in real or imitation maraschino...
cornel
cornul, from Medieval Latin cornolium, from French cornouille, from Vulgar Latin *cornuculum, from Latin cornum "cornel-cherry...," which is perhaps related to Greek kerasos "cherry."...
weeping
Used of various trees whose branches arch downward and suggest drooping, such as weeping elm (c. 1600); weeping cherry (1824...
drupe
"a stone-fruit," one with a fleshy or soft outer part and a hard nut or stone at the center (as a plum, cherry, apricot,...
prude
1704, "woman who affects or upholds modesty in conduct and thought in a degree considered rigid and excessive," from French prude "excessively prim or demure woman," first recorded in Molière. Perhaps it is a false back-formation or an ellipsis of preudefemme "a discreet, modest
scarlet
mid-13c. (late 12c. as a surname), "rich cloth" (often, but not necessarily, bright red), from a shortened form of Old French escarlate "scarlet (color), top-quality fabric" (12c., Modern French écarlate), which, with Medieval Latin scarlatum "scarlet, cloth of scarlet," Italian
-red
word-forming element meaning "condition or state of," Middle English, from Old English -rede, from ræden "condition, rule, reckoning," a suffixed form of ræd "to advise, rule" (see rede). Common in Old English, less so in Middle English but still active in word-formation. It is a

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