2859: Raspberry Oct 18, 2024

‘Raspberry’, is, like ‘cranberry’, is not parsable; that is to say, ‘rasp’ is a word, but unlike blueberry, it is not clearly “rasp + berry”. In fact, it is not clear where it comes from at all. On the one hand, it could be from the Latin “vinum raspeys” referring to a type of wine, and that the berry is named after the color of the wine. It could also have a Germanic origin and indeed be related to rasp, referring either to their coarse texture or potentially the thorny branches.