FRUIT

yield, fruit

(noun) an amount of a product

fruit

(noun) the consequence of some effort or action; “he lived long enough to see the fruit of his policies”

fruit

(noun) the ripened reproductive body of a seed plant

fruit

(verb) bear fruit; “the trees fruited early this year”

fruit

(verb) cause to bear fruit

Source: WordNet® 3.1

Etymology

Noun

fruit (countable and uncountable, plural fruits) (see Usage notes for discussion of plural)

(often, in the plural) In general, a product of plant growth useful to man or animals.

Specifically, a sweet, edible part of a plant that resembles seed-bearing fruit (see next sense), even if it does not develop from a floral ovary; also used in a technically imprecise sense for some sweet or sweetish vegetables, such as the petioles of rhubarb, that resemble a true fruit or are used in cookery as if they were a fruit.

(botany) A product of fertilization in a plant, specifically

The seed-bearing part of a plant, often edible, colourful and fragrant, produced from a floral ovary after fertilization.

The spores of cryptogams and their accessory organs.

An end result, effect, or consequence; advantageous or disadvantageous result.

(attributive) Of, belonging to, related to, or having fruit or its characteristics; (of living things) producing or consuming fruit.

(dated, colloquial, derogatory) A homosexual man; (derogatory, figurative) an effeminate man. [1900]

(archaic) Offspring from a sexual union.

Usage notes

• In the botanical and figurative senses, fruit is usually treated as uncountable

• fruits is also sometimes used as the plural in the botanical sense

• When fruit is treated as uncountable in the botanical sense, a piece of fruit is often used as a singulative.

• In senses other than the botanical or figurative ones derived from the botanical sense, the plural is fruits.

• The culinary sense often does not cover true fruits that are savoury or used chiefly in savoury foods, such as tomatoes and peas. These are normally described simply as vegetables.

Verb

fruit (third-person singular simple present fruits, present participle fruiting, simple past and past participle fruited)

To produce fruit, seeds, or spores.

Proper noun

Fruit (plural Fruits)

A surname.

Statistics

• According to the 2010 United States Census, Fruit is the 31824^th most common surname in the United States, belonging to 725 individuals. Fruit is most common among White (91.03%) individuals.

Source: Wiktionary

Fruit, n. Etym: [OE. fruit, frut, F. fruit, from L. fructus enjoyment, product, fruit, from frui, p. p. fructus, to enjoy; akin to E. brook, v. t. See Broook, v. t., and cf. Fructify, Frugal.]

1. Whatever is produced for the nourishment or enjoyment of man or animals by the processes of vegetable growth, as corn, grass, cotton, flax, etc.; -- commonly used in the plural. Six years thou shalt sow thy land, and shalt gather in the fruits thereof. Ex. xxiii. 10.

2. (Hort.)

Definition: The pulpy, edible seed vessels of certain plants, especially those grown on branches above ground, as apples, oranges, grapes, melons, berries, etc. See 3.

3. (Bot.)

Definition: The ripened ovary of a flowering plant, with its contents and whatever parts are consolidated with it.

Note: Fruits are classified as fleshy, drupaceous, and -dry. Fleshy fruits include berries, gourds, and melons, orangelike fruita and pomes; drupaceous fruits are stony within and fleshy without, as peaches, plums, and chercies;and dry fruits are further divided into achenes, follicles, legumes, capsules, nuts, and several other kinds.

4. (Bot.)

Definition: The spore cases or conceptacles of flowerless plants, as of ferns, mosses, algae, etc., with the spores contained in them.

6. The produce of animals; offspring; young; as, the fruit of the womb, of the loins, of the body. King Edward's fruit, true heir to the English crown. Shak.

6. That which is produced; the effect or consequence of any action; advantageous or desirable product or result; disadvantageous or evil consequence or effect; as, the fruits of labor, of self-denial, of intemperance. The fruit of rashness. Shak. What I obtained was the fruit of no bargain. Burke. They shall eat the fruit of their doings. Is. iii 10. The fruits of this education became visible. Macaulay.

Note: Fruit is frequently used adjectively, signifying of, for, or pertaining to a fruit or fruits; as, fruit bud; fruit frame; fruit jar; fruit knife; fruit loft; fruit show; fruit stall; fruit tree; etc. Fruit bat (Zoöl.), one of the Frugivora; -- called also fruit- eating bat.

– Fruit bud (Bot.), a bud that produces fruit; -- in most oplants the same as the power bud. Fruit dot (Bot.), a collection of fruit cases, as in ferns. See Sorus.

– Fruit fly (Zoöl.), a small dipterous insect of the genus Drosophila, which lives in fruit, in the larval state.

– Fruit jar, a jar for holding preserved fruit, usually made of glass or earthenware.

– Fruit pigeon (Zoöl.), one of numerous species of pigeons of the family Carpophagidæ, inhabiting India, Australia, and the Pacific Islands. They feed largely upon fruit. and are noted for their beautiful colors.

– Fruit sugar (Chem.), a kind of sugar occurring, naturally formed, in many ripe fruits, and in honey; levulose. The name is also, though rarely, applied to invert sugar, or to the natural mixture or dextrose and levulose resembling it, and found in fruits and honey.

– Fruit tree (Hort.), a tree cultivated for its edible fruit.

– Fruit worm (Zoöl.), one of numerous species of insect larvæ: which live in the interior of fruit. They are mostly small species of Lepidoptera and Diptera.

– Small fruits (Hort.), currants, raspberries, strawberries, etc.

Fruit, v. i.

Definition: To bear fruit. Chesterfield.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition

FRUIT

Etymology

Noun

Usage notes

Verb

Proper noun

Statistics

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