cherry

noun (plural cherries) Etymology: Middle English chery, from Anglo-French cherise, cirice (taken as a plural), from Late Latin ceresia, from Latin cerasus cherry tree, from Greek kerasos Date: 14th century 1. a. any of numerous trees and shrubs (genus Prunus) of the rose family that bear pale yellow to deep red or blackish smooth-skinned drupes enclosing a smooth seed and that include some cultivated for their fruits or ornamental flowers — compare sour cherry, sweet cherry b. the fruit of a cherry c. the reddish-brown wood of a cherry; especially black cherry 2 2. a variable color averaging a moderate red 3. a. hymen b. virginity • cherrylike adjective