fruit (frūt)
n., pl., fruit, or fruits.

1. 1. The ripened ovary or ovaries of a seed-bearing plant, together with accessory parts, containing the seeds and occurring in a wide variety of forms.
   2. An edible, usually sweet and fleshy form of such a structure.
   3. A part or an amount of such a plant product, served as food: fruit for dessert.
2. The fertile, often spore-bearing structure of a plant that does not bear seeds.
3. A plant crop or product: the fruits of the earth.
4. Result; outcome: the fruit of their labor.
5. Offspring; progeny.
6. A fruity aroma or flavor in a wine.
7. Offensive Slang. Used as a disparaging term for a homosexual man.

intr. & tr.v., fruit·ed, fruit·ing, fruits.
To produce or cause to produce fruit.

[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin frūctus, enjoyment, fruit, from past participle of fruī, to enjoy.]

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

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