Meanings
plural fruiterers
- AustraliaUKOne who sells fruit.
We spotted a fruiterer and bought a bunch of bananas, which I embraced while all the others had their pick.
1933, Frank Clune, Try Anything Once, Sydney: Angus and Robertson, page 1073 more examples
[T]he very ſame day did I fight with one Samſon Stockefiſh a Fruiterer behinde Greyes Inne: Ieſu, Ieſu, the mad dayes that I haue ſpent!
c. 1596–1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, The Second Part of Henrie the Fourth, […], quarto edition, London: […] V[alentine] S[immes] for Andrew Wise, and William Aspley, published 1600, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii]And Knight laughed, and drew her close and kissed her the second time, which operations he performed with the carefulness of a fruiterer touching a bunch of grapes so as not to disturb their bloom.
1872 September – 1873 July, Thomas Hardy, “‘I Lull a Fancy, Trouble-Tost’”, in A Pair of Blue Eyes. […], volume III, London: Tinsley Brothers, […], published 1873, →OCLC, page 24A good few Indian fruiterers who were right in the centre of Johannesburg never made the 'mistake' of serving a black man, or even another Indian, before a white customer, no matter who had come first.
1962, Ezekiel Mphahlele, “The Nationalist”, in The African Image, New York, N.Y.: Frederick A. Praeger, →OCLC, page 70Synonyms: fruitmonger, fruitseller
Synonyms & antonyms
nounOne who sells fruit.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*bʰruHg-“to have enjoyment of; make use of”
- Latinfrū̆ctus“produce, product, fruit; enjoyment, satisfaction”
- Frenchfruitier“fruit-seller”
- Anglo-Normanfruitier
- Middle Englishfruiterē̆r“fruit grower; fruit dealer”
- Englishfruiterer
From Late Middle English fruiterē̆r (“fruit grower; fruit dealer”), from fruitē̆r (“fruit dealer; household official having charge of fruit”) + -er (it is unclear why the second suffix was added). Fruitē̆r is derived from Anglo-Norman fruitier or French fruitier (“fruit-seller”), from fruit (“fruit”) (from Latin frū̆ctus (“produce, product, fruit; enjoyment, satisfaction”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰruHg- (“to have enjoyment of; make use of”)) + -ier (suffix forming names of jobs).
More words from Middle English, Anglo-Norman, French
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans vrugteboer
- vrugteboerone who sells fruit
Bengali ফলবিক্রেতা
- ফলবিক্রেতা (pholbikreta)one who sells fruit
Bulgarian търговец на плодове
- търговец на плодове (tărgovec na plodove)one who sells fruit
Catalan fruiter, fruitera
- fruiterone who sells fruit
- fruiteraone who sells fruit
Chinese Mandarin 水果商
- 水果商 (shuǐguǒshāng)one who sells fruit
Czech ovocnář
- ovocnářone who sells fruit
Dutch fruitverkoper, fruitverkopster
- fruitverkoperone who sells fruit
- fruitverkopsterone who sells fruit
Finnish hedelmäkauppias
- hedelmäkauppiasone who sells fruit
French fruitier, fruitière
- fruitierone who sells fruit
- fruitièreone who sells fruit
German Obsthändler, Obsthändlerin
- Obsthändlerone who sells fruit
- Obsthändlerinone who sells fruit
- Obsthökeone who sells fruit
- Obsthökinone who sells fruit
- Obsthökerone who sells fruit
- Obsthökerinone who sells fruit
- Obstkrämerone who sells fruit
- Obstkrämerinone who sells fruit
- Obstmannone who sells fruit
- Obstfrauone who sells fruit
Greek οπωροπώλης, οπωροπώλισσα
- οπωροπώλης (oporopólis)one who sells fruit
- οπωροπώλισσα (oporopólissa)one who sells fruit
Italian fruttivendolo, fruttivendola
- fruttivendoloone who sells fruit
- fruttivendolaone who sells fruit
- verduriereone who sells fruit
Latin fructuārius
- fructuāriusone who sells fruit
Portuguese fruteiro, fruteira
- fruteiroone who sells fruit
- fruteiraone who sells fruit
Romanian fructar
- fructarone who sells fruit
Russian торго́вец фру́ктами, торго́вка фру́ктами
- торго́вец фру́ктами (torgóvec frúktami)one who sells fruit
- торго́вка фру́ктами (torgóvka frúktami)one who sells fruit
Spanish frutero, frutera
- fruteroone who sells fruit
- fruteraone who sells fruit
- verduleroone who sells fruit
- verduleraone who sells fruit
Swedish frukthandlare
- frukthandlareone who sells fruit
Tagalog magpuprutas
- magpuprutasone who sells fruit
Turkish meyveci
- meyvecione who sells fruit
Ukrainian плодівник, садівник
- плодівник (plodivnyk)one who sells fruit
- садівник (sadivnyk)one who sells fruit
- торговець фруктами (torhovecʹ fruktamy)one who sells fruit
Cite this entry
fruiterer. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fruiterer
“fruiterer.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fruiterer. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “fruiterer,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fruiterer.
Source: fruiterer on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.