Fruit Salad
Saturdays are perfect days for fruitful surprises. Surprise—we’re talking about vocabulary related to fruit today!
Who doesn’t love fruit, one of the fundamental building blocks of a healthy food pyramid? Fruit is easy to appreciate either as a sweet treat or, in a larger sense, as the delicious result, effect, or profit resulting from effort. The Latin root FRUI- means to enjoy or use, which comes through quite clearly in fruit words:
fruit (verb) - to bear or produce fruit
fruitful (adj) - productive, successful, or beneficial; producing desired outcomes or results
fruition (noun) - the moment of realization, attainment, or accomplishment
fruitless (adj) - unproductive or unsuccessful; without profit or results
The root FRUI- appears as FRUCT- meaning fruit or enjoyment in many scientific words, including the following:
fructify (verb) - bear fruit or become productive
fructiferous (adj) - bearing fruit
fructivorous (adj) - fruit-eating
fructose (noun) - simple sugar found in fruits, fruit juices, honey, and some vegetables
“A fruit is a vegetable with looks and money. Plus, if you let fruit rot, it turns into wine, something brussels sprouts never do.” —P. J. O'Rourke