elderberry

E1L1D2E1R1B3E1R1R1Y4
/ˈɛldə(ɹ)ˌbɛɹi/

noun

Any shrub or tree of the genus Sambucus;

Similar
elderbourtreeblack eldercommon elderEuropean elderSambucus nigra
OriginEnglish berry ← Middle English berie ← Old English berġe →
UncommonScrabble 16
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

nounelderberry (plural elderberries)

plural elderberries

  1. Any shrub or tree of the genus Sambucus;

    Synonyms: elder

  2. The small, edible, purplish-black fruit of this plant, used in cooking and to flavor drinks, etc.

Synonyms & antonyms

nounAny shrub or tree of the genus Sambucus;

Similar
elder

More synonyms by meaning

nouna common shrub with black fruit or a small tree of Europe and Asia; fruit used for wines and jellies

Similar
bourtreeblack eldercommon elderEuropean elderSambucus nigra
Broader
elderelderberry bush
Also see
black elder

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Middle Englisheldre
  2. Englishelder
  3. Proto-Germanic*bazją
  4. Proto-West Germanic*baʀi
  5. Old Englishberġe
  6. Middle Englishberie
  7. Englishberry
  8. Englishelderberry

From elder + berry.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Arabic بَيْلَسَان
  • بَيْلَسَان (baylasān)fruit
Basque intsusa
  • intsusafruit
Bulgarian бъз
  • бъз (băz)fruit
Chinese Cantonese 接骨木果
  • 接骨木果 (zip³ gwat¹ muk⁶ gwo²)fruit
Chinese Mandarin 接骨木果
  • 接骨木果 (jiēgǔmùguǒ)fruit
Czech bezinka
  • bezinkafruit
Danish hyldebær
  • hyldebærfruit
Dutch vlierbes
  • vlierbesfruit
Esperanto sambuko
  • sambukofruit
Finnish seljanmarja
  • seljanmarjafruit
French baie de sureau
  • baie de sureaufruit
German Holunderbeere, Fliederbeere
  • Holunderbeerefruit
  • Fliederbeerefruit
Hungarian bodza
  • bodzafruit
Icelandic ylliber
  • ylliberfruit
Italian sambuco
  • sambucofruit
Japanese 接骨木
  • 接骨木fruit
Latin sambūcum, sabūcum
  • sambūcumfruit
  • sabūcumfruit
Norwegian Bokmål hyllebær
  • hyllebærfruit
Polish bez czarny, czarny bez
  • bez czarnyfruit
  • czarny bezfruit
Portuguese sabugo
  • sabugofruit
Romanian soc
  • socfruit
Russian бузина́
  • бузина́ (buziná)fruit
Spanish baya del saúco
  • baya del saúcofruit
Swedish fläderbär
  • fläderbärfruit
Turkish mürver
  • mürverfruit
Ukrainian бузина́
  • бузина́ (buzyná)fruit
Cite this entry
APA

elderberry. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/elderberry

MLA

“elderberry.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/elderberry. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “elderberry,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/elderberry.

Source: elderberry on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.