gooseberry

English

WOTD – 13 September 2012

Gooseberry (fruit).

Wikipedia

Etymology

From goose +‎ berry. It is possible that the first element was originally something related to the gros- of French groseille and/or the kruis- of Dutch kruisbes but has been altered by folk etymology.

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈɡusˌbɛɹi/
• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈɡuːsb(ə)ɹi/ also IPA^(key): /ˈɡʊzb(ə)ɹi/

Noun

gooseberry (plural gooseberries)

1. A fruit closely related to the currant.

   We had a good haul of gooseberries from our tree this year.

2. Any of several other unrelated fruits, such as the Chinese gooseberry (kiwifruit) and the Indian gooseberry (amla).
3. (chiefly UK) An additional person who is neither necessary nor wanted in a given situation.
   • 1915, Lucy Maud Montgomery, Anne of the Island, Chapter VI:

     "But," said Philippa dolefully, "if I go I'll have to be gooseberry, and that will be a new experience for Philippa Gordon."

     "Well, new experiences are broadening. Come along, and you'll be able to sympathize with all poor souls who have to play gooseberry often.

   Robert and Susan were so in love with each other that nobody could go near them without feeling like a gooseberry.

Synonyms

• (fruit - UK informal): goosegog
• (additional person): third wheel, fifth wheel

Derived terms

• gooseberry rust

Translations

fruit

• Abenaki: kôwakwimen
• Afrikaans: appelliefie (af)
• Albanian: person i tretë
• Armenian: փշահաղարջ (pʿšahałarǰ)
• Azeri: motmotu
• Basque: arakatz
• Bulgarian: цариградско грозде m (tsarigradsko grozde)
• Catalan: agrassó m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 醋栗 (zh) (cùlì)

• Cree: ᓵᐳᒥᐣ (sâpomin)
• Czech: angrešt m
• Danish: stikkelsbær n
• Dutch: kruisbes (nl) f
• Esperanto: groso
• Estonian: karusmari
• Faroese: stikkulsber n
• Finnish: karviaismarja (fi), karviainen (fi)
• French: groseille à maquereau (fr) f
• Georgian: კინკოიჟა (kinkoiža), კუნკრუხელა (kunkruxela)
• German: Stachelbeere (de) f
• Hungarian: egres (hu)
• Icelandic: stikilsber n
• Ido: grozelo (io)
• Irish: spíonán m
• Italian: uva spina f
• Japanese: グーズベリー (gūzuberī)
• Jèrriais: grouaîsile f
• Korean: 까치밥 나무 (kkachibab namu)

• Lao: ໝາກພິດຄ (māk phit kha)
• Latvian: ērkšķoga (lv) f
• Lithuanian: agrastas
• Macedonian: огрозд m (ógrozd)
• Malayalam: നെല്ലിക്ക (nellikka)
• Maltese: ċawsla f
• Maori: kuihipere, kūpere
• Marathi: हिरवी फळे येणारे एक झाड n (hiravī phaḷē yēṇārē ēka jhāḍa)
• Mohegan-Pequot: pasqatam
• Navajo: kʼíníjíłʼahí
• Norwegian: stikkelsbær n
• Ojibwe: zhaaboomin (berry), zhaaboominagaawanzh (plant)
• Polish: agrest (pl) m
• Portuguese: groselha (pt) f
• Romanian: agrișă (ro) f
• Russian: крыжовник (ru) m (kryžóvnik)
• Scots: groser
• Serbo-Croatian: ogroz m, ogrozd m, kosmulja f
• Slovene: kosmulja (sl) f
• Spanish: grosella (es) f
• Swahili: tunda bukini
• Swedish: krusbär (sv) n, stickelbär (sv) c
• Tagalog: gusberi
• Tamil: நெல்லிக்காய் (ta) (nellikkāy)
• Telugu: ఉసిరి (te) (usiri)
• Thai: มะยม n (mayohm)
• Turkish: bektaşi üzümü (tr)
• Ukrainian: аґрус (uk) (agrus)
• Unami: shëwinkëlës
• Urdu: روئیں دار پھل m (roain dar phal)
• Uzbek: krijovnik (uz)
• Vietnamese: đăng tin vịt, chùm ruột

additional person

• Finnish: kolmas pyörä

• German: fünftes Rad am Wagen (idiomatic)