Added 2 October 2026

apple

/ˈæpəl/ noun

In Latin: mālum Wiktionary

noun Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about apple at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

A common, firm, round fruit produced by a tree of the genus Malus.
custard apple rose apple thorn apple
The fruit of the tree Malus domestica, chiefly with a green, red, or yellow skin, cultivated in temperate climates for cidermaking, cooking, and eating. .mw-parser-output .defdate{font-size:smaller}
Often with a qualifying word: any fruit or vegetable, or any other thing (such as a cone or gall) produced by a plant, especially if from a tree and similar to the fruit of Malus domestica (noun sense 1.1).
custard apple rose apple thorn apple

To make (something) appear like an apple (noun sense 1.1).
To become like an apple. To collect fir-cones. Of a flower bud or vegetable (especially a root vegetable): to grow into the shape of an apple.
To become like an apple.

The noun is derived from Middle English appel (“Malus domestica fruit or tree, apple; any type of fruit, nut, or tuber; tree bearing fruit; (figurative) ball, sphere; (Christianity) forbidden fruit in Eden”), from Old English æppel (“apple; any type of fruit; (figurative) ball, sphere; eyeball”), from Proto-West Germanic *applu (“apple; any type of fruit”), from Proto-Germanic *aplaz (“apple; any type of fruit”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ébōl, *h₂ébl̥ (“apple”). As regards noun sense 1.4 (“forbidden fruit”), the type of fruit eaten by Adam and Eve is not identified in the Book of Genesis in the Bible.