Gourd
/ɡʊrd/noun
A fleshy fruit with a hard rind, especially one from the cucumber family, or its dried shell used as a vessel.
Did you know?English borrowed gourd through Old French from Arabic, and the word’s journey shows how everyday plant names could cross empires through trade, farming, and conquest.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*gʰwer-
“to be warm, to heat”
Latin
Latin
cucurbita
“gourd, pumpkin, squash”
Arabic
Arabic
qurʿa
“gourd, pumpkin”
Old French
Old French
gourde
“gourd; drinking vessel made from a gourd”
Middle English
English
gourd
“a gourd; a vessel made from a gourd”
Modern English
English
gourd
“the fruit of certain plants, especially those with hard shells”