cherry

The story

1. Ancient Greek · derived fromκεράσιον“cherry fruit”
2. Late Latin · derived fromceresium
3. Vulgar Latin · derived fromceresia
4. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*kirsijā
5. Old English · inherited fromċiris
6. Anglo-Norman · derived fromcherise
7. Middle English · inherited fromchery
8. English todaycherry

From Middle English chery, cherie, chirie, from Anglo-Norman cherise (mistaken as a plural) and Old English ċiris, ċirse (“cherry”), from Proto-West Germanic *kirsijā, 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, Giresun, and kirsch.

Words from the same roots