grape

grape
\ \ [13] Not surprisingly, given the northerliness of the British Isles, English does not have its own native word for ‘grape’. In Old English it was was called wīnberige, literally ‘wineberry’, and the Old French word grape which Middle English borrowed as grape meant ‘bunch of grapes’, not ‘grape’. It was probably a derivative of the verb graper ‘gather grapes’, which itself was based on the noun grape ‘hook’ (a relative of English cramp, crampon, and grapnel [14]). The underlying notion is of a bunch of grapes being gathered with a sort of pruning hook. (The use of a word that originally meant ‘bunch’ for ‘grape’ is in fact fairly common: Czech hrozen, Romanian stugure, German traube, and Lithuanian keke all follow the same pattern, as does French raisin, source of English raisin.)
\ \ Cf.⇒ CRAMP, CRAMPON, GRAPNEL

Word origins - 2ed. . 2005.

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  • Grape — Grape, n. [OF. grape, crape, bunch or cluster of grapes, F. grappe, akin to F. grappin grapnel, hook; fr. OHG. chrapfo hook, G. krapfen, akin to E. cramp. The sense seems to have come from the idea of clutching. Cf. {Agraffe}, {Cramp}, {Grapnel} …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • grape — mid 13c., from O.Fr. grape bunch of grapes, grape (12c.), probably a back formation from graper steal; grasp; catch with a hook; pick (grapes), from a Frankish word, from P.Gmc. *krappon hook (Cf. M.Du. crappe, O.H.G. krapfo hook; also see CRAMP… …   Etymology dictionary

  • grape — [grāp] n. [ME grap, replacing earlier winberie (see WINE & BERRY) < OFr grape, bunch of grapes < graper, to gather with a hook < Frank * krappo (OHG chrapfo), a hook: for IE base see CRADLE] 1. any of various small, round, smooth skinned …   English World dictionary

  • grape — [greıp] n [Date: 1200 1300; : Old French; Origin: crape, grape hook, bunch of grapes ] one of a number of small round green or purple fruits that grow together on a ↑vine. Grapes are often used for making wine ▪ a bunch of grapes ▪ grape juice …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • grape — grape; grape·less; grape·let; …   English syllables

  • grape — ► NOUN 1) a green, purple, or black berry growing in clusters on a vine, eaten as fruit and used in making wine. 2) (the grape) informal wine. DERIVATIVES grapey adjective. ORIGIN Old French, bunch of grapes , probably from grap hook (used in… …   English terms dictionary

  • grape — [ greıp ] noun count * a small green or purple fruit that grows in BUNCHES on a VINE, often used for making wine => SOUR GRAPES …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • grape — sb., n (grapefrugt) …   Dansk ordbog

  • Grape — This article is about the fruits of the genus Vitis. For the European grapevine, see Vitis vinifera. For other uses, see Grape (disambiguation). White table grapes Grapes, purple or green …   Wikipedia

  • grape — grapelike, adj. /grayp/, n. 1. the edible, pulpy, smooth skinned berry or fruit that grows in clusters on vines of the genus Vitis, and from which wine is made. 2. any vine bearing this fruit. 3. a dull, dark, purplish red color. 4. grapes, (used …   Universalium

  • GRAPE — For the Tokyo University supercomputer, see Gravity Pipe. GRAPE, or GRAphics Programming Environment is a software development environment for mathematical visualization, especially differential geometry and continuum mechanics.The term graphical …   Wikipedia

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