apricot (English)
Where does "apricot" come from?
The word 'apricot' traveled a long path, beginning in Late Latin as 'praecocia', meaning 'early-ripening', a term it shares with its linguistic doublet 'precocious'. It passed through Ancient Greek and Arabic before arriving in Catalan and French, where it was eventually adopted into English as 'apricock' and later 'apricot'. Along the way, the fruit's name was influenced by the Latin word for 'sunny place', reflecting both its warm-weather nature and its winding journey across languages.
Full etymology tree
- apricot (English), 'Of a pale yellowish-orange colour, like that of an apricot.'
- inherited apricock (English), 'Archaic form of apricot.'
- inherited abrecock (English), 'Obsolete form of apricot.'
- learned borrowing albercoc (Catalan), 'apricot'
- learned borrowing al-barqūq (Arabic)
- learned borrowing berikokkía (Byzantine Greek)
- derived beríkokkon (Ancient Greek)
- learned borrowing praecoquum (Latin), 'inflection of praecoquus:'
- derived praeco (Latin), 'herald, crier'
- affix *preh₂- (Proto-Indo-European), 'before, in front'
- affix *pekʷ- (Proto-Indo-European), 'to cook'
- derived praeco (Latin), 'herald, crier'
- learned borrowing praecoquum (Latin), 'inflection of praecoquus:'
- derived beríkokkon (Ancient Greek)
- learned borrowing berikokkía (Byzantine Greek)
- learned borrowing al-barqūq (Arabic)
- learned borrowing albercoc (Catalan), 'apricot'
- inherited abrecock (English), 'Obsolete form of apricot.'
- inherited apricock (English), 'Archaic form of apricot.'
Direct ancestors
- pekʷ- (Proto-Indo-European)
- preh₂- (Proto-Indo-European)
- abrecoc (Catalan)
- πραικόκιον (Ancient Greek)
- abricot (French)
- apricum (Latin)
- precocious (English)
Updated June 2026
Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris