Everyday LifeGreek → English
Currant
/ˈkʌrənt/noun
A small dried grape used in baking, or the berry of certain garden shrubs.
The Greek roots
Κόρινθος
Kórinthos
Corinth, a Greek city
Literally: “from Corinth”
Follow a root:Κόρινθος2 words
The story of the word
Medieval England imported small dried grapes from Greece and called them raisins of Corauntz, raisins of Corinth, which wore down to currant. When northern gardeners began growing red and black berries in the 16th century, they borrowed the name because the fruit looked like the dried grape. The result is that the currant in a bun and the currant on a bush are not related plants at all.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → Old French → English
- First recorded
- 14th century
In a sentence
She picked the currants out of the scone and left them in a small pile.