CHERRY

noun (plural cherries) Etymology: Middle English chery, from Anglo-French cherise, cirice (taken as a plural), from Late Latin ceresia, from Latin cerasus ~ tree, from Greek kerasos Date: 14th century 1. any of numerous trees and shrubs (genus Prunus ) of the rose family that bear pale yellow to deep red or blackish smooth-skinned drupes enclosing a smooth seed and that include some cultivated for their fruits or ornamental flowers, the fruit of a ~, the reddish-brown wood of a ~, a variable color averaging a moderate red, 3. hymen , virginity , ~like adjective