Etymograph

English

peach

Peach comes from Middle English peche ‘a peach’, and goes back to Vulgar Latin *pessica.

  1. Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*pessicareconstructed
  2. Old Frenchc. 842–1400pesche‘peach (fruit)’
  3. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600pesche
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500peche‘a peach’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1768peach

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

Lineage

  1. Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*pessicareconstructed
  2. Old Frenchc. 842–1400pesche‘peach (fruit)’
  3. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600pesche
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500peche‘a peach’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1768peach

Earliest quotation: 1768, M. Combles, A Treatise Upon the Culture of Peach Trees: “I think it the best way to plant the…”

Every English word from Vulgar Latin *pessica

Today it means

noun Any tree of species Prunus persica, native to China and now widely cultivated throughout temperate regions, having pink flowers and edible fruit.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Vulgar Latin *pessica / peach

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