tree of knowledge of good and evil

American  

noun

1. the tree in the Garden of Eden bearing the forbidden fruit that was tasted by Adam and Eve. Genesis 2:17; 3:6–24.

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tree of knowledge of good and evil British  

noun

1. Old Testament the tree in the Garden of Eden bearing the forbidden fruit that Adam and Eve ate, thus incurring loss of primal innocence (Genesis 2:9; 3:2–7)

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tree of knowledge of good and evil Cultural  

1. A tree in the Garden of Eden, the fruit of which God forbade Adam and Eve to eat.

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Discover More

They did eat the forbidden fruit, and their disobedience brought about the Fall of Man.

Etymology

Origin of tree of knowledge of good and evil

First recorded in 1525–35

Example Sentences

Each holds a tantalizing apple, plucked from the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 18, 2024

Genesis does not name the guilty fruit at all; it is merely "the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil."

From Time Magazine Archive

A. The tree bearing the forbidden fruit was called "the tree of knowledge of good and evil."

From Baltimore Catechism, No. 3 by Anonymous

Talk about the tree of knowledge of good and evil in the garden of Eden—say! suppose there had been a rubber plant there when Eve—but I was going to tell you a story.

From Waifs and Strays Part 1 by Henry, O.

Adam and Eve were under obligations to keep their innocence by abstaining from the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

From The Bible Book by Book A Manual for the Outline Study of the Bible by Books by Tidwell, Josiah Blake