Etymograph

English

berry

Berry comes from Middle English berie ‘a berry’, and goes back to Proto-Germanic *bazją.

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*bazją1reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*baʀi1reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150berġe1
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500berie1‘a berry’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1877berry1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English berry
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1877, Great Britain. Parliament. House of Comm, Parliamentary Papers - Volume 24: “The crabs carry their berries for six months.”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*bazjąWiktionary, English berryreconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*baʀiWiktionary, English berryreconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150berġeWiktionary, English berry
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500berieWiktionary, English berry‘a berry’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1877berryWiktionary, English berry. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1877, Great Britain. Parliament. House of Comm, Parliamentary Papers - Volume 24: “The crabs carry their berries for six months.”

The story

The slang sense "police car" may come from the lights on the vehicles' roofs.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Every English word from Proto-Germanic *bazją

Another origin of berry

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰerǵʰ-‘to rise up, be elevated’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰérǵʰos‘hill’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*bergaz‘mountain, hill’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*berg‘hill, mountain’reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150beorg‘mountain, hill, mound, barrow’
  6. Old Englishc. 450–1150beorġedative form of beorg
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500berȝe
  8. Englishtodayberry

Another origin of berry

  1. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500bery‘a burrow’
  2. Englishtodayberry

Another origin of berry

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰerH-‘to rip, cut, split, grate’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*barjaną‘to beat, hit’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*barjan‘to beat, strike’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150*berianreconstructed
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500beryen
  6. Englishtodayberry

Today it means

noun A small succulent fruit, of any one of many varieties.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “berry”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *bazją / berry

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