irregular-fruited
|ir-reg-u-lar-fruit-ed|
🇺🇸
/ɪˌrɛɡjəˈlɚ ˈfruːtɪd/
🇬🇧
/ɪˌrɛɡjʊˈlə ˈfruːtɪd/
having uneven or nonuniform fruits
Etymology
'irregular-fruited' is a compound formed from 'irregular' + 'fruited'. 'Irregular' ultimately comes from Latin 'in-' (not) + 'regularis' (regular), and 'fruited' derives from Latin 'fructus' (fruit, enjoyment, yield) via Old French.
'Irregular' entered English via Old French and Middle English from Latin 'irregularis'. 'Fruit' comes from Latin 'fructus' → Old French 'fruit' → Middle English 'fruit'. The hyphenated compound 'irregular-fruited' is a modern English descriptive formation used in botanical contexts.
Originally 'fruit' in Latin ('fructus') could mean 'enjoyment' or 'yield'; over time the sense narrowed in English to the botanical sense 'seed-bearing structure'. 'Irregular' has consistently meant 'not regular', and the compound came to mean 'having nonregular fruits' in technical descriptions.
Meanings by Part of Speech
Adjective 1
having fruits that are not uniform in shape, size, or structure; in botany, describing species whose fruits deviate from the typical or regular form.
The specimen was described as irregular-fruited, producing berries of varied shapes and sizes.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Last updated: 2025/12/05 10:48