Windberry

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A name for a shrub or low plant that bears small edible or inedible berries, sometimes used in regional or folk usage
2. A regional term for a berry-producing plant whose small fruits grow on low woody stems in open country
3. The common name, used locally, for a wild plant that yields small berries often gathered in the countryside

Etymology: The "wind" in windberry is not the weather. It is a later remodelling of an old word that began as "wine-berry," a name for the grape, which in Old English was literally "wine" plus "berry." Over time the first part wore down and was reshaped by English speakers who heard a familiar word in it, so the name drifted toward the common noun "wind" even though the two have no connection. The form "windberry" is a variant of "whimberry," a name for a wild berry shrub, and the two spellings reflect different pressures. The first sound was reduced over the centuries from "wine" to "win," and forms beginning with "wh-" were probably shaped by "whin," the name for gorse, a prickly plant that grows in similar places. The "nb" sound also shifted to "mb," as happened in "hemp," which comes from Old English "henep."