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

/ druːˈpeɪʃəs; druːp /

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

Some of the most common drupes include peaches, nectarines, plums, apricots and cherries, but olives, mangoes and pecans also fall under this category.

From Washington Post

It was while the manager was deciding which of three other young women to take that Mr. Drupe was stricken with apoplexy.

From Project Gutenberg

Areca, a genus of lofty palms with pinnated leaves, and a drupe-like fruit enclosed in a fibrous rind.

From Project Gutenberg

The Almond fruit is a drupe, like the peach, but the flesh is thin and hard and the pit is the Almond of commerce.

From Project Gutenberg

The fruit is a purple-black, globular, berry-like drupe, containing a stone with one or two seeds.

From Project Gutenberg

The fruit is a black, berry-like drupe containing (usually) eight little, seedlike stones.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

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