Chokecherry
/ˈtʃoʊkˌtʃɛri/noun
A North American cherry tree or shrub that produces small, astringent dark red to black fruits.
Did you know?The name comes from the fruit’s intense astringency, not from choking in a literal sense: the berries are so tart and tannic they can make your mouth feel tight and dry.
Etymological Timeline
18th–19th Century
English
chokecherry
“A North American cherry with very astringent fruit.”
Old English
English
coc
“To choke or suffocate; to obstruct the throat.”
Proto-Germanic
PGmc
*kok-
“To choke, gag, or suffocate.”
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*gēu̯- / *gū-
“To bend, curve, or be bent; the deeper origin is uncertain and not universally agreed for this branch.”
Old English
English
ciris
“Cherry, the fruit name later borrowed into English from Latin and Old Northern French.”
Latin
Latin
cerasum
“Cherry tree or cherry fruit, borrowed from Greek.”
Ancient Greek
Greek
kerasos
“Cherry tree or cherry fruit.”