We have blueberries and blackberries, so why are red berries called raspberries?

Question

We have blueberries and blackberries, so why are red berries called raspberries?

Question #148613. Asked by triviadude289.
Last updated Aug 17 2021.
Originally posted Aug 16 2021 12:45 AM.

Lottie1001

Answer has 7 votes

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Lottie1001

17 year member
146 replies avatar

Answer has 7 votes.

Currently voted the best answer.

They aren't all called raspberries. I can think of strawberries, cranberries and loganberries to name three. But look at this list.

https://www.eathappyproject.com/26-types-of-red-berries-growing-on-trees-and-shrub/

Aug 16 2021, 1:08 AM

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Answer 1

It's a reference to their appearance, not just a colour description.

raspberry (n.)
a fruit of various plants of the genus Rubus, 1620s, earlier raspis berry (1540s), a word of obscure origin. Possibly it is from raspise "a sweet rose-colored wine" (mid-15c.), from Anglo-Latin vinum raspeys, which is itself of uncertain origin. Connection to Old French raspe, Medieval Latin raspecia, raspeium, also meaning "raspberry," are likewise obscure.

One suggestion is that it may come via Old Walloon raspoie "thicket," which is of Germanic origin. Klein suggests it is via the French word, from a Germanic source akin to English rasp (v.), with an original sense of "rough berry," based on appearance.

https://www.etymonline.com/word/raspberry