Raspberries

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A sweet and tangy fruit that grows on thorny bushes and can be red or black in color
2. An edible berry produced by a specific type of shrub, often used in cooking and baking due to its distinct flavor
3. A juicy, red or blackish fruit made up of many small drupelets clustered together on a stem

Etymology: "Raspberries" is simply the plural of "raspberry," and the fruit's name traces back to a sweet wine. Earlier English had "raspis berry," which probably came from "raspise," the name of a sweet rose-coloured wine. That wine name went back to Anglo-Latin "vinum raspeys," though its ultimate origin is uncertain. The link to the fruit is one of resemblance in colour and sweetness rather than any shared material. A second, more speculative thread connects the word to "rasp," meaning something coarse or rough, which comes from Germanic roots. Whether the fruit's bristly surface inspired that link is unclear, so it remains a possibility rather than a settled explanation. Separately, "raspberry" has a slang life of its own. In Cockney rhyming slang it stands for "raspberry tart," meaning "fart," and the rude noise made by blowing through the lips is also called a raspberry, though the word is rarely used for an actual fart.

Synonyms: berries