Berry

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈbɛɹi/
• enPR: bÄ•'ri
• Rhymes: -É›ri
• Homophones: bury

From Middle English berye, from Old English beriġe, from Proto-Germanic *bazją

Marlies Philippa et al., eds., Etymologisch Woordenboek van het Nederlands, A-Z, s.v. “bes” (Amsterdam UP, 3 Dec. 2009):

.

(compare German Beere, Danish bær), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰes- ("to blow, chew, rub") (compare Tocharian B pās- ("to whisper"), Albanian therr ("thorn,"), Ancient Greek ψάω (psaō, "I rub"), Sanskrit बभस्ति (bábhasti, "he chews, devours"))

J.P. Mallory & D.Q. Adams, eds., Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture, s.vv. “blow”, “rub” (London: Fitzroy Dearborn, 1997), pp. 72, 490.

. For the semantic development, compare Old Church Slavonic гроуша (gruša, "pear"), from гроушити (grušiti, "to break, destroy"); Latin pirum ("pear"), from *peis- ("to stick, pound").

Vladimir Orel, A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, s.v. “*ƀazjan” (Leiden: Brill, 2003), 40.

Full definition of berry

Noun

1. A small fruit, of any one of many varieties.
2. (botany) A soft fruit which develops from a single ovary and contains seeds not encased in pits.
3. A coffee bean.
4. One of the ova or eggs of a fish.

Derived terms

Verb

1. To pick berries.On summer days Grandma used to take us berrying, whether we wanted to go or not.
2. To bear or produce berries.

Usage notes

Unlikely to be used to refer to commercial harvesting of berries.

Derived terms

• berrying

From Middle English berȝe, berghe, from Old English beorġe, dative form of beorg ("mountain, hill, mound, barrow"), from Proto-Germanic *bergaz ("mountain, hill"). More at barrow.

Alternative forms

• berye, berie

Noun

1. (now chiefly dialectal) A mound; a barrow.

From Middle English bery ("a burrow"). More at burrow.

Noun

1. (dialectal) A burrow, especially a rabbit's burrow.
2. An excavation; a military mine.

From Middle English beryen, berien, from Old English *berian (found only in past participle ġebered ("crushed, kneaded, harassed, oppressed, vexed")), from Proto-Germanic *barjaną ("to beat, hit"), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- ("to rip, cut, split, grate"). Cognate with Scots berry, barry ("to thresh, thrash"), German beren ("to beat, knead"), Icelandic berja ("to beat"), Latin feriō ("strike, hit", verb.).

Verb

1. (transitive) To beat; give a beating to; thrash.
2. (transitive) To thresh (grain).