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drupe

[ droop ]
/ drup /
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noun Botany.
any fruit, as a peach, cherry, plum, etc., consisting of an outer skin, a usually pulpy and succulent middle layer, and a hard and woody inner shell usually enclosing a single seed.
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Origin of drupe

First recorded in 1745–55; from Latin drūpa, druppa “wrinkled olive, overripe olive,” from Greek drýppa “olive”
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use drupe in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for drupe

drupe
/ (druːp) /

noun
an indehiscent fruit consisting of outer epicarp, fleshy or fibrous mesocarp, and stony endocarp enclosing a single seed, as in the peach, plum, and cherry

Derived forms of drupe

drupaceous (druːˈpeɪʃəs), adjective

Word Origin for drupe

C18: from Latin druppa wrinkled overripe olive, from Greek: olive
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

Scientific definitions for drupe

drupe
[ drōōp ]

A simple fruit derived from a single carpel. A drupe usually contains a single seed enclosed by a hardened endocarp, which often adheres closely to the seed within. In peaches, plums, cherries, and olives, a fleshy edible mesocarp surrounds the endocarp (the pit or stone). In the coconut, a fibrous mesocarp (the husk) surrounds the endocarp (the shell), while the white edible portion is the endosperm. Compare berry pome. See more at simple fruit.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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