Apple

How to spell apple

5 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce apple

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does apple mean?

1. nounThe round, firm, edible fruit of the tree Malus domestica, usually red, green, or yellow.

Apple in a sentence

• She packed an apple in her lunch every morning.

• The orchard sold every apple before noon.

Where does apple come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

The word apple comes from the Old English æppel, which originally meant fruit in general, not just the specific fruit we know today. It descends from a widespread Germanic root, seen in Dutch appel and German Apfel, and ultimately from an ancient northern European word for fruit or apple. For centuries the term was used loosely for almost any round fruit growing on a tree, which is why old texts can speak of the apple of an oak or even call the eyeball the apple of the eye. Only gradually did it narrow to the familiar orchard fruit of the genus Malus. The double p that sometimes trips writers reflects the doubled consonant already present in the Old English spelling, where it marked a short vowel before the consonant cluster.

How the word is built

• appl- (from Old English æppel, fruit)
• -e