currant

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a small tart red, black, or white berry growing on a shrub of the genus Ribes

   She stirred fresh black currants into the sauce.

2. 2
   noun

   a small dried seedless grape, especially a Black Corinth grape

   The baker added currants and orange peel to the buns.

Shortened from phrases such as raisins of Corinth, through French references to grapes from Corinth in Greece. The name first denoted the small dried grape; it was later transferred to similar-looking berries of Ribes shrubs.

Topics