Etymograph

English

pear

Pear comes from Latin pirum ‘a pear (fruit)’.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpirum‘a pear (fruit)’
  2. Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CEpira
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*perureconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150pere
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same form
  6. Englishtodaypear

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpirum‘a pear (fruit)’
  2. Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CEpira
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*perureconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150pere
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same form
  6. Englishtodaypear

The story

From Middle English pere, from Old English pere, from Proto-West Germanic *peru, from Vulgar Latin pira, originally the plural of Latin pirum but reconstrued as a feminine singular, ultimately a loanword from an unknown Mediterranean substrate source.uncertain The source flags this step as uncertain.

Linked words

through Latin pirum ‘a pear (fruit)’

perry, 8 more

through Middle English pere

pier, 4 more

Today it means

noun An edible fruit produced by the pear tree, similar to an apple but typically elongated towards the stem.

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

Etymograph / Latin pirum / pear

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