cherry

Signification

Noun

1. A small fruit, usually red, black or yellow, with a smooth hard seed and a short hard stem.
2. Prunus subg. Cerasus, trees or shrubs that bear cherries.
3. The wood of a cherry tree.
4. Cherry red.
5. The fruit of the coffee plant, containing the seeds or beans.
6. (slang) Virginity, especially female virginity as embodied by a hymen.
7. A subtree consisting of a node with exactly two leaves.
8. (slang) A cricket ball.
9. A round, red light of the kind that is typically mounted on top of a police car.
10. The burning tip of a cigarette.

Adj

1. Containing or having the taste of cherries.
2. Of a bright red colour; cherry red.
3. (informal) In excellent condition; mint condition.

Prononcé comme (IPA)

/ˈt͡ʃɛɹi/

Étymologie

From Middle English chery, cherie, chirie, from Anglo-Norman cherise (mistaken as a plural) and Old English ċiris, ċirse (“cherry”), both ultimately from Vulgar Latin ceresia, derived from Late Latin ceresium, cerasium, from Ancient Greek κεράσιον (kerásion, “cherry fruit”), from κερασός (kerasós, “bird cherry”), and ultimately possibly of Anatolian origin (the intervocalic σ suggests a pre-Greek origin for the word). Doublet of cerise and kirsch.