apricot
/ˈeɪ.pɹɪ.kɑt/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 2.98 in modern English
11
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
3
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A round sweet and juicy stone fruit, resembling peach or plum in taste, with a yellow-orange flesh, lightly fuzzy skin and a large seed inside.
Countable; Uncountable
noun
The junction of the brain and brain stem on a target, used as an aiming point to ensure a one-shot kill.
Countable; Uncountable
adj
Of a pale yellowish-orange colour, like that of an apricot.
Example Sentences
- "pickled apricots"
- "Seven hundred and seventy-eight yards, though I didn't know the exact measurement at the time, plus the fact that the bullet ripped through the victim's apricot tipped me to the fact that we were probably dealing with an experienced sniper."
- "I'd aim right for the apricot. The medulla. You'd die instantly."
- "“See the nose?” Slater asked. He’d drawn a face on the watermelon with a Sharpie. “Aim right below it, at the philtrum. That way, the bullet's gonna go straight through and hit the apricot. Carmen told you about the apricot?” In my first lesson. The apricot was the sniper's nickname for the medulla oblongata, the cone-shaped mass of neurons that connected the brain to the spinal cord."
- "Hot water has always made my apricots sag."
- "Maybe before I die they'll have some sort of mechanical cock and balls because all of the steroids that I used, ^([sic]) put my apricots and kielbasa out of commission."
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *per- Proto-Indo-European *preh₂- Proto-Indo-European *-i Proto-Indo-European *préh₂i? Proto-Italic *prai Proto-Italic *prai- Latin prae- Proto-Indo-European *pekʷ- Proto-Indo-European *-eti Proto-Indo-European *pékʷeti Proto-Italic *kʷekʷō Latin *quoquō Latin coquō Latin praecoquō Proto-Indo-European *-ós Proto-Indo-European *-os Proto-Indo-European *-ós Proto-Indo-European *-ós Proto-Indo-European *-ós Proto-Indo-European *-ós Proto-Indo-European *-os Proto-Italic *-os Archaic Latin -os Latin -us Latin praecoquus Latin praecoquumder. Ancient Greek βερίκοκκον (beríkokkon) Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-i-eh₂ Proto-Hellenic *-íā Ancient Greek -ία (-ía) Byzantine Greek βερικοκκῐ́ᾱ (berikokkĭ́ā)der. Classical Syriac ܒܰܪܩܽܘܩܳܐ (barqūqā)bor. Arabic بَرْقُوق (barqūq) Andalusian Arabicbor. Catalan albercoc ▲ Catalan arbreinflu. Catalan abrecocder. English abrecock Latin apricuminflu. English apricock ▲ French abricotinflu. English apricot Alteration of apricock (with influence from French abricot), itself an alteration of abrecock (with influence from Latin apricum (“sunny place”)), from dialectal Catalan abrecoc, abricoc, variants of standard albercoc, from Arabic الْبَرْقُوق (al-barqūq, “plums”), from Byzantine Greek βερικοκκία (berikokkía, “apricot tree”), from Ancient Greek πραικόκιον (praikókion), from Late Latin (persica) praecocia (literally “(peaches) which ripen early”), (mālum) praecoquum (literally “(apple) which ripens early”). Doublet of precocious.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: abrecoc, بَرْقُوق, βερικοκκία, πραικόκιον, (persica) praecocia
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈeɪ.pɹɪ.kɑt/
- British English: /ˈeɪ.pɹɪ.kɒt/
Usage
- Countable
- Uncountable
- Australian usage
- British usage
- Dated
- Slang
Inflected Forms
apricots (plural)
abricock (alternative, obsolete)
apricock (alternative, obsolete)
more apricot (comparative)
most apricot (superlative)