fruiterer

English edit

WOTD – 14 November 2018

Etymology edit

From Late Middle English fruiterē̆r (“fruit grower; fruit dealer”),^[1] from fruitē̆r (“fruit dealer; household official having charge of fruit”)^[2] + -er (it is unclear why the second suffix was added).^[3] Fruitē̆r is derived from Anglo-Norman fruitier or French fruitier (“fruit-seller”),^[2] from fruit (“fruit”) (from Latin frū̆ctus (“produce, product, fruit; enjoyment, satisfaction”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰruHg- (“to have enjoyment of; make use of”)) + -ier (“suffix forming names of jobs”).

Pronunciation edit

(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈfɹuːtəɹə/, /ˈfɹuːtɹə/
- Audio (Southern England) (file)
(General American) IPA^(key): /ˈfɹutəɹə/, /-ɾə-/
Hyphenation: fruit‧er‧er

Noun edit

fruiterer (plural fruiterers)

(British) One who sells fruit.
Synonyms: fruitmonger, fruitseller
- c. 1596–1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, The Second Part of Henrie the Fourth, […], quarto edition, London: […] V[alentine] S[immes] for Andrew Wise, and William Aspley, published 1600, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii]:
  [T]he very ſame day did I fight with one Samſon Stockefiſh a Fruiterer behinde Greyes Inne: Ieſu, Ieſu, the mad dayes that I haue ſpent!
- 1872 September – 1873 July, Thomas Hardy, “‘I Lull a Fancy, Trouble-Tost’”, in A Pair of Blue Eyes. […], volume III, London: Tinsley Brothers, […], published 1873, →OCLC, page 24:
  And Knight laughed, and drew her close and kissed her the second time, which operations he performed with the carefulness of a fruiterer touching a bunch of grapes so as not to disturb their bloom.
- 1962, Ezekiel Mphahlele, “The Nationalist”, in The African Image, New York, N.Y.: Frederick A. Praeger, →OCLC, page 70:
  A good few Indian fruiterers who were right in the centre of Johannesburg never made the 'mistake' of serving a black man, or even another Indian, before a white customer, no matter who had come first.