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Definition

noun, plural: fruits

(1) (botany) The seed-bearing structure in angiosperms formed from the ovary after flowering.

(2) The edible, usually fleshy and sweet smelling part of a plant that may or may not contain seed(s).

(3) The offspring from a sexual union.

Supplement

Classification of fruits based on the arrangement from which they derive:

• Simple fruits - fruits that developed from a single or compound ovary with only one pistil (of a single flower). Simple fruits may either be fleshy or dry fruits.
• Aggregate fruits - fruits that develop from a single flower of many simple pistils. Examples are blackberries and raspberries.
• Multiple fruits - fruits that develop from the ovaries of many flowers growing in a cluster. Examples are pineapple and mulberry.
• Accessory fruits - fruits that contain tissue derived from plant parts other than the ovary. Examples are strawberry, apple, pear, etc.

Word origin: Middle English, from Old French, from Latin frūctus, enjoyment, fruit, from past participle of fruī, to enjoy.

Related terms:

• Fruit sugar
• Grape fruit
• Aggregate fruit
• Star fruit
• Fruit Fly