raisin

American  

[ray-zin] / ˈreɪ zɪn /

noun

• raisins
  plural

1. a grape of any of various sweet varieties dried in the sun or by artificial means, often used in cooking.

2. dark purplish blue.

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raisin British  

/ ˈreɪzən /

noun

1. a dried grape

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• raisiny
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• raisins
  plural

Etymology

Origin of raisin

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English raisin, reisin, from Old French, from unattested Vulgar Latin racīmus, for Latin racēmus; see raceme

Explanation

A raisin is a dehydrated or sun-dried grape. Raisins are sweet and chewy, and they're often found in oatmeal cookies and granola. Raisins are one of the most common kind of dried fruit — they turn up everywhere from a preschooler's snack box to a fancy bakery's scones and cinnamon rolls. The most common way to make a raisin is to dry grapes in the sun, though it's quicker for producers to use dehydrating machines. The word raisin dates to the thirteenth century, from the Latin racemus, which means "cluster of grapes or berries."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

raisin raisins

Many farmworkers who were interviewed, including Lopez, who was sprayed in the raisin field, said employers did not provide pesticide safety training.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 24, 2026

"To see nanoscale structures with standard electron microscopy, we fix and dehydrate the tissues, but freezing them retains their shape -- similar to freezing a grape rather than dehydrating it into a raisin," Watanabe said.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 17, 2026

Jacobsen, an almond and raisin grape grower, tracked his chill hours carefully all winter.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 29, 2026

For example, the Supreme Court has held that a federal regulation requiring a raisin farmer to destroy a portion of his crop is a per se taking.

From Slate ● Feb. 4, 2026

He takes off toward his family, and Celia appears next to me, holding two oatmeal raisin cookies on a napkin.

From "Keeping Pace" by Laurie Morrison

A farmworker, 43, who is not identified for her safety, picks grapes that will be sold as raisins in southwest Fresno County on Sept. 3.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 24, 2026

She sat on the ground on a thin cushion fashioned from some clothes, with small sacks of cashews, almonds, raisins, walnuts and dried figs placed in front.

From BBC ● Jun. 15, 2026

Three Iranian men pressed rehydrated raisins at an artisan distillery just outside New York, thousands of miles from their war-struck homeland.

From Barron's ● May 2, 2026

A place for the pork juices to settle, for the butter from the raisins to seep into, for the yogurt to drag through in soft, tangy streaks.

From Salon ● Apr. 10, 2026

“Bet she puts raisins in her potato salad.”

From "On the Come Up" by Angie Thomas