These sample phrases are automatically selected from various online information sources to reflect the current use of the word „bay”. The views expressed in the examples do not represent the views of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us your feedback. Middle English berye, Old English berie; similar to the Old High German Beri-Beri-Berie Any small fleshy fruit is popularly called a berry, especially if it is edible. Raspberries, blackberries and strawberries, for example, are not real berries, but aggregated fruits – fruits consisting of a series of smaller fruits. However, cranberries and blueberries are true botanical berries. The strawberry was mentioned by the ancient Romans, who thought it had medicinal properties,[10] but it was not a staple of agriculture at that time. [11] Wild strawberries were grown in French gardens in the 14th century. Musk strawberry (F.
moschata) began to be grown in European gardens in the late 16th century. Later, the Virginia strawberry was grown in Europe and the United States. [12] [when?] The most consumed strawberry, the garden strawberry (F. ananassa), is a random hybrid of the white-tailed strawberry and a Chilean variety Fragaria chiloensis. A French gardener first noticed in the mid-18th century that if F. moschata and F. virginiana were planted between rows of F. chiloensis, the Chilean strawberry would bear abundant and exceptionally large fruit. Soon after, Antoine Nicolas Duchesne began studying strawberry breeding and made several discoveries crucial to the science of plant breeding, such as the sexual reproduction of strawberries. [13] Later, in the early 1800s, English strawberry growers produced varieties of F.
ananassa, which were important in strawberry cultivation in Europe,[14] and hundreds of varieties have since been produced by strawberry breeding. [11] Berries are often added to water and/or pressed, as in cranberry juice, which accounts for 95% of the cranberry crop,[51] blueberry juice, raspberry juice, goji berry juice, acai juice, chokeberry juice and strawberry juice. [52] [53] Wine is the main fermented beverage made from berries (grapes). Fruit wines are usually made from other berries. In most cases, sugar should be added to berry juices during chaptalization to increase the alcohol content of the wine. Examples of fruit wines made from berries are: elderberry wine, strawberry wine, blueberry wine, blackberry wine, currant wine, blueberry wine, goji wine and cranberry wine. [54] [55] [56] [57] Berries are used in certain types of beer, particularly raspberry (made from raspberry) and other fruit lambics. Subscribe to America`s largest dictionary and get thousands of other definitions and an advanced search – ad-free! Berries according to both definitions include blueberries, cranberries, cranberries and fruits of many other members of the heather family, as well as gooseberries, goji berries and elderberries. The fruits of some `currants` (species of Ribes), such as blackcurrants, currants and blackcurrants, are botanical berries and are treated as horticultural berries (or red fruits in the UK), although their most commonly used names do not contain the word `berry`. There are two specific types of berries that characterize certain taxonomic groups. The leathery citrus berry (genus Citrus) is called hesperidium. The elongated, viscous fruits of the Cucurbit family, including watermelons, cucumbers, and pumpkins, are a type of berry called pepos.
Berries are often used in baking, such as blueberry muffins, blackberry muffins, berry shoemakers, berry chips, berry cakes, berry curls, berry crumb cakes, berry tea cakes, and berry cookies. [47] Berries are usually incorporated whole into the dough for cooking, and care is often taken to prevent the berries from bursting. Frozen or dried berries may be preferable for some baked berry products. [48] [49] [50] Fresh berries are also often incorporated into baked berry desserts, sometimes with cream, either as a dessert topping or as a garnish. [47] In common parlance, the term „berry” differs from the scientific or botanical definition of a fruit made from the ovary of a single flower in which the outer layer of the ovarian wall develops into an edible fleshy part (pericarp). The botanical definition includes many fruits that are not commonly known or called berries, such as grapes, tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplants, bananas and chili peppers.