First Known Use: 14th century
Dictionary
1peach
noun \ˈpēch\
: a round, sweet fruit that has white or yellow flesh, soft yellow or pink skin, and a large, hard seed at the center
: a yellowish-pink color
: a person or thing that is liked or admired very much
Full Definition of PEACH
1
a : a low spreading freely branching Chinese tree (Prunus persica) of the rose family that has lanceolate leaves and sessile usually pink flowers and is widely cultivated in temperate areas for its edible fruit which is a single-seeded drupe with a hard central stone, a pulpy white or yellow flesh, and a thin fuzzy skin b : the edible fruit of the peach
2
: a moderate yellowish pink
3
: one resembling a peach (as in sweetness, beauty, or excellence)
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Origin of PEACH
Middle English peche, from Anglo-French pesche, peche (the fruit), from Late Latin persica, from Latin (malum) persicum, literally, Persian fruit
Related to PEACH
- Synonyms
- beaut, beauty, bee's knees, cat's meow, corker, crackerjack (also crackajack), daisy, dandy, dilly, doozy (or doozie also doozer), dream, honey, hot stuff, humdinger, hummer, knockout, lollapalooza, lulu [slang], nifty, jim–dandy, pip, pippin, ripper, ripsnorter, snorter, sockdolager (or sockdologer), standout, sweetheart
2peach
verb
Definition of PEACH
transitive verb
: to inform against : betray
intransitive verb
: to turn informer : blab
Origin of PEACH
Middle English pechen, short for apechen to accuse, from Anglo-French apecher, empecher to ensnare — more at impeach
First Known Use: 1560
PEACH Defined for Kids
peach
noun \ˈpēch\
Definition of PEACH for Kids
1
: a fruit that is related to the plum and has a sweet juicy yellow or whitish pulp, hairy skin, and a large rough pit
2
: a pale yellowish pink color
Word History of PEACH
When the peach, which is native to China, was introduced to the Roman Empire, it was known in Greek as mēlon Persikon and in Latin as malum Persicum. Both names literally meant “Persian apple.” (Persia is a traditional name for the Asian country now known as “Iran.”) The fruit may not have reached the Mediterranean region directly from Persia, and “Persian” in the name may just mean that people felt it came from somewhere in the east. Latin malum Persicum was shortened to persicum, which later became persica. Latin persica developed into pesche in Old French, and this word became the source of English peach.
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