fruit  (fr t)
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n. pl. fruit or fruits 1. a. The ripened ovary or ovaries of a seed-bearing plant, together with accessory parts, containing the seeds and occurring in a wide variety of forms. b. An edible, usually sweet and fleshy form of such a structure. c. A part or an amount of such a plant product, served as food: fruit for dessert. 2. The fertile, often spore-bearing structure of a plant that does not bear seeds. 3. A plant crop or product: the fruits of the earth. 4. Result; outcome: the fruit of their labor. 5. Offspring; progeny. 6. A fruity aroma or flavor in a wine. 7. Offensive Slang Used as a disparaging term for a gay man. intr. & tr.v. fruit·ed, fruit·ing, fruits To produce or cause to produce fruit.
[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin frūctus, enjoyment, fruit, from past participle of fruī, to enjoy.] |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2020 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices
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