drupe

[ droop ]

noun

, Botany.

1. any fruit, as a peach, cherry, plum, etc., consisting of an outer skin, a usually pulpy and succulent middle layer, and a hard and woody inner shell usually enclosing a single seed.

drupe

/ druːp; druːˈpeɪʃəs /

noun

1. an indehiscent fruit consisting of outer epicarp, fleshy or fibrous mesocarp, and stony endocarp enclosing a single seed, as in the peach, plum, and cherry

drupe

/ dro̅o̅p /

1. A simple fruit derived from a single carpel. A drupe usually contains a single seed enclosed by a hardened endocarp, which often adheres closely to the seed within. In peaches, plums, cherries, and olives, a fleshy edible mesocarp surrounds the endocarp (the pit or stone). In the coconut, a fibrous mesocarp (the husk) surrounds the endocarp (the shell), while the white edible portion is the endosperm.
2. Compare berrySee more at simple fruit

Derived Forms

• drupaceous, adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of drupe¹

First recorded in 1745–55; from Latin drūpa, druppa “wrinkled olive, overripe olive,” from Greek drýppa “olive”

Word History and Origins

Origin of drupe¹

C18: from Latin druppa wrinkled overripe olive, from Greek: olive

Example Sentences

First, there are those cashews, which are not nuts at all but technically fruit; they’re the drupe seeds that extend under the apple of the cashew tree.

From Washington Post

Though sometimes referred to as a berry, the fruit of Piper nigrum is a drupe, as are stone fruits, meaning that it consists of a seed in the center surrounded by a layer of flesh.

From Washington Post

While their name implies they are berries, mulberries, blackberries, and raspberries are actually aggregate fruits in the drupe or stone fruit family.

From Salon

In botany, this is called the suture, and it gives drupe fruits, a category that includes peaches, plums and olives, a seam that can split to release its seed-bearing pit.

From Washington Post

In botany, this is called the suture, and it gives drupe fruits – a category that includes peaches, plums and olives – a seam that can split to release its seed-bearing pit.

From Seattle Times

Related Words

• berry
• crop
• grain
• nut
• produce
• product