Cherry

[cher-ee]

noun

Donald EugeneDon, 1936–95, U.S. jazz trumpeter.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

British Dictionary definitions for donald cherry

cherry

noun plural -ries

any of several trees of the rosaceous genus Prunus, such as P. avium (sweet cherry), having a small fleshy rounded fruit containing a hard stoneSee also bird cherry

the fruit or wood of any of these trees

any of various unrelated plants, such as the ground cherry and Jerusalem cherry

a bright red colour; cerise
(as adjective)a cherry coat

slang virginity or the hymen as its symbol

(modifier) of or relating to the cherry fruit or woodcherry tart

Derived Formscherry-like, adjective

Word Origin for cherry

C14: back formation from Old English ciris (mistakenly thought to be plural), ultimately from Late Latin ceresia, perhaps from Latin cerasus cherry tree, from Greek kerasios

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for donald cherry

cherry

c.1300, earlier in surname Chyrimuth (1266, literally "Cherry-mouth"); from Anglo-French cherise, from Old North French cherise (Old French, Modern French cerise, 12c.), from Vulgar Latin *ceresia, from late Greek kerasian "cherry," from Greek kerasos "cherry tree," possibly from a language of Asia Minor. Mistaken in Middle English for a plural and stripped of its -s (cf. pea).

Old English had ciris "cherry" from a West Germanic borrowing of the Vulgar Latin word (cf. German Kirsch), but it died out after the Norman invasion and was replaced by the French word. Meaning "maidenhead, virginity" is from 1889, U.S. slang, from supposed resemblance to the hymen, but perhaps also from the long-time use of cherries as a symbol of the fleeting quality of life's pleasures.