Dictionaries of the Scots Language
Dictionars o the Scots Leid

Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

Hide Quotations Hide Etymology

Abbreviations Cite this entry

About this entry:
First published 1956 (SND Vol. IV).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

FRUIT, n. Also frute, frit; fröt (Sh.); †freet (Cai., ne.Sc.). Sc. forms and usages. [I., m. and s.Sc. frøt, †mn. and nn.Sc. fri:t]

1. As in Eng., lit. and fig.Abd. 1826 D. Anderson Poems 19:
As mickle's I cou'd pouch or eat — O' a' kin kin' — loaf, cakes, an' freet.Sc. 1857 H. S. Riddell Psalms i. 3:
He sall be like ane trie sette bie the rinners o' water, that brings foret his frute in his seesen.Sh. 1898 “Junda” Klingrahool 52:
What seems bit loss may turn ta gain, An joy spring up, da fröt o pain.Sc. 1928 T. T. Alexander Psalms 3:
A tree that grows, whaur burnie rowes, In hairst-time frit sal gie.

†2. Comb. fruit-maele, a fruit-stain on cloth, etc. Used fig. in quot. with reference to the story of the forbidden fruit. See Mail.Sc. 1829 Blackwood's Mag. (Aug.) 249:
Ay, lack-a-day! that's our besetting sin — the stain — the fruit-maele o' the original transgression!