Meanings
plural crowberries
- Empetrum; a small genus of dwarf evergreen shrubs that bear edible fruit.
Synonyms: crakeberry
- Empetrum nigrum; a species of crowberry.
1 more example
Black crowberry. Empetrum nigrum. Crowberry Family. Fruit. — The black drupe is berrylike, globular, and incloses six to nine seedlike nutlets with a seed in each. The calyx is at the base and the stigma is at the apex. The drupes are solitary in the leaf axils. They are juicy, acid, edible, and serve as food for the Arctic birds.
1905, Maude Gridley Peterson, How to Know Wild Fruits: A Guide to Plants When Not in Flower by Means of Fruit and Leaf, Macmillan, page 202Synonyms: crakeberry, mossberry
- A fruit of this plant.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounEmpetrum; a small genus of dwarf evergreen shrubs that bear edible fruit.
nounEmpetrum nigrum; a species of crowberry.
Origin
- GermanKrähenbeere
- Englishcrowberry
From crow + berry; probably a calque of German Krähenbeere. Apparently so-called due to birds' fondness for the fruit. Yet the dark color (compare Old Norse blár (“blue-black, like a raven's sheen”)) may be the main or another factor; compare Inuktitut paurngaq (“crowberry”) (allegedly meaning "which looks like soot").
More words from German
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian черен емпетрум
- черен емпетрум (čeren empetrum)the species Empetrum nigrum
Chinese Mandarin 岩高蘭 /岩高兰
- 岩高蘭 /岩高兰 (yángāolán)the species Empetrum nigrum
Czech šicha černá, šicha
- šicha černáthe species Empetrum nigrum
- šichathe genus Empetrum
Danish almindelig revling, revling
- almindelig revlingthe species Empetrum nigrum
- revlingthe species Empetrum nigrum
- revlingthe genus Empetrum
Dutch kraaiheide
- kraaiheidethe species Empetrum nigrum
Finnish variksenmarja, variksenmarja
- variksenmarjathe species Empetrum nigrum
- variksenmarjafruit
- variksenmarjathe genus Empetrum
French camarine noire, camarine
- camarine noirethe species Empetrum nigrum
- camarinefruit
- camarinethe genus Empetrum
German Krähenbeere, Krähenbeere
- Krähenbeerefruit
- Krähenbeerethe genus Empetrum
Icelandic krækiber
- krækiberfruit
Norwegian krekling, krekling
- kreklingthe species Empetrum nigrum
- kreklingthe genus Empetrum
Polish bażyna czarna, bażyna
- bażyna czarnathe species Empetrum nigrum
- bażynathe genus Empetrum
- bagniskothe genus Empetrum
Romanian vuietoare, vuietoare
- vuietoarethe species Empetrum nigrum
- vuietoarethe genus Empetrum
Russian ворони́ка, водяни́ка
- ворони́ка (voroníka)fruit
- водяни́ка (vodjaníka)fruit
- ворони́ка (voroníka)the genus Empetrum
- водяни́ка (vodjaníka)the genus Empetrum
- ши́кша (šíkša)the genus Empetrum
Scottish Gaelic dearc-fhìona, dearc-fithich
- dearc-fhìonafruit
- dearc-fithichfruit
Spanish murtilla
- murtillafruit
Swedish kråkbär, kråkbär
- kråkbärthe species Empetrum nigrum
- kråkbärthe genus Empetrum
Turkish karga üzümü, karga üzümü
- karga üzümüfruit
- karga üzümüthe genus Empetrum
Welsh creiglus, llus y brain
- creiglusthe species Empetrum nigrum
- llus y brainthe species Empetrum nigrum
- creiglusfruit
- llus y brainfruit
- creiglusthe genus Empetrum
Cite this entry
crowberry. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/crowberry
“crowberry.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/crowberry. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “crowberry,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/crowberry.
Source: crowberry on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.