Definition
noun, plural: fruits
(1) (botany) The seed-bearing structure in angiosperms formed from the ovary after flowering.
(2) The edible, usually fleshy and sweet smelling part of a plant that may or may not contain seed(s).
(3) The offspring from a sexual union.
Supplement
Classification of fruits based on the arrangement from which they derive:
- Simple fruits – fruits that developed from a single or compound ovary with only one pistil (of a single flower). Simple fruits may either be fleshy or dry fruits.
- Aggregate fruits – fruits that develop from a single flower of many simple pistils. Examples are blackberries and raspberries.
- Multiple fruits – fruits that develop from the ovaries of many flowers growing in a cluster. Examples are pineapple and mulberry.
- Accessory fruits – fruits that contain tissue derived from plant parts other than the ovary. Examples are strawberry, apple, pear, etc.
Word origin: Middle English, from Old French, from Latin frūctus, enjoyment, fruit, from past participle of fruī, to enjoy.
Related terms:
- Fruit sugar
- Grape fruit
- Aggregate fruit
- Star fruit
- Fruit Fly
