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Gooseberry

 - 3 dictionary results

goose⋅ber⋅ry

[goos-ber-ee, -buh-ree, gooz-]
–noun, plural -ries.
1. the edible, acid, globular, sometimes spiny fruit of certain prickly shrubs belonging to the genus Ribes, of the saxifrage family, esp. R. uva-crispa (or R. grossularia).
2. a shrub bearing this fruit.

Origin:
1525–35; goose + berry
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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goose·ber·ry   (gōōs'běr'ē, -bə-rē, gōōz'-)   
n.  
    1. A spiny European shrub (Ribes uva-crispa) having lobed leaves, greenish flowers, and edible greenish to yellow or red berries.

    2. The fruit of this plant.

  1. Any of several plants bearing similar fruit.


[goose (probably shortening and alteration by folk-etymology of French groseille, gooseberry; see grossularite) + berry.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

gooseberry 
c.1532, perhaps from Ger. Krausebeere or Kräuselbeere, related to M.Du. croesel "gooseberry," and to Ger. kraus "crispy, curly." Under this theory, gooseberry would be folk etymology. But OED editors find no reason to prefer this to a literal reading, because "the grounds on which plants and fruits have received names associating them with animals are so commonly inexplicable, that the want of appropriateness in the meaning affords no sufficient ground for assuming that the word is an etymological corruption."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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