Curraunt

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A small, tart, dark berry that grows on a shrub, or the tiny seedless grape dried to be eaten as a sweet fruit
2. The small sour berry borne on a low bush, or the dried seedless grape often used in baking and cooking
3. A tiny tart fruit from a bramble-like shrub, as well as the small dried grape commonly added to cakes and puddings

Etymology: Currants are named for a Greek city. Medieval Mediterranean traders shipped small, seedless dried grapes, and Old French called them "raisin de Corinthe," or grapes of Corinth. English adopted the phrase as "raisins of Corauntz" by the late Middle Ages, and it gradually shrank to the single word. The spelling "curraunt" is an older form of the same word. The name later passed to berries. The dried grapes were already called currants, so when Ribes shrubs bore small, similar-looking clusters of fruit, they were given the same name, which gave us redcurrants and blackcurrants. These berries are not grapes and are not closely related to the dried fruit. The link is only the shared name, based on resemblance in size and appearance.