Vine

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /vaɪn/

Definitions

1. A climbing or trailing plant with flexible stems that bears grapes or other fruits, often grown on trellises or walls
2. A plant characterized by long, slender stems that ascend or spread across surfaces while producing fruits like grapes and various other edible types
3. A flexible-stemmed plant that can either climb or creep along the ground, typically yielding fruits such as grapes or other similar produce

Etymology: The vine you grow on a trellis and the wine you drink from its fruit were once the same word. Latin "vinum" meant wine, and "vinea" meant a plantation of vines, literally "the wine-bearing place" in the sense of a vineyard. From that Latin adjective-derived noun, Vulgar Latin "vinia" passed into Old French and Anglo-Norman as "vigne," and Middle English borrowed it as "vyne." The Latin "vinum" itself traces back to a Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to twist or wrap," a nod to the way vines coil around whatever they climb. English kept the plant sense and the drink sense apart in spelling and meaning, so the two words are doublets, two forms descended from one ancestor.

Synonyms: climber, creeper, trailing plant, liana, runner