Raisins

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Dried grapes that have been processed to remove moisture, concentrating their sweetness and flavor
2. Small, wrinkled fruits made by dehydrating grapes, often used in baking or as a snack for their natural sweetness
3. A type of snack fruit derived from grapes, typically characterized by their chewy texture and high sugar content after drying

Etymology: "Raisins" is the plural of "raisin," and the singular is the older form of the two, carrying the sense it still has today. The word traces back to the Latin "racēmus," meaning a cluster of grapes or a bunch of fruit hanging on a stalk. Latin speakers later used a related form, "racīmus," and it passed into Anglo-Norman as "reysin," meaning grape or raisin, before reaching Middle English as "raysyn." The surprising connection is that "raisin" and "raceme" are doublets: two words that came into English along different routes from the same Latin source. "Raceme," the botanical term for an elongated cluster of flowers along a single stem, was borrowed directly from Latin, while "raisin" came through French, and the two shifted in meaning as they settled into English. Both still preserve the original idea of fruit or flowers gathered in a cluster.

Synonyms: dried grapes