Origin and history of grape

early 15c., "metal bar bent at both ends," from Middle Dutch crampe or Middle Low German krampe, from Proto-Germanic *kramp-. It is thus the same word as cramp (n.1). Metaphoric sense of "something that confines or hinders" is attested by 1719.

1814, from grape + fruit. Said to have been so called for its taste, or perhaps because it grows in clusters. Perhaps a marketing name; it was known by various names (pomelo, shaddock) before the current one emerged. The fruit itself was known since 1693 (in Hans Sloane's catalogue of Jamaican plants); presumably it originated in Jamaica from chance hybrids between other cultivated citrus. An ornamental plant chiefly at first, not much eaten until late 19c.