noun
- See under mulberry(def 2).
noun, plural mul·ber·ries.
- the edible, berrylike collective fruit of any tree of the genus Morus.
- a tree of this genus, as M. rubra (red mulberry or American mulberry) bearing dark-purple fruit, M. nigra (black mulberry) bearing dark-colored fruit, or M. alba (white mulberry) bearing nearly white fruit and having leaves used as food for silkworms.
noun plural -ries
- any moraceous tree of the temperate genus Morus, having edible blackberry-like fruit, such as M. alba (white mulberry), the leaves of which are used to feed silkworms
- the fruit of any of these trees
- any of several similar or related trees, such as the paper mulberry and Indian mulberry
-
- a dark purple colour
- (as adjective)a mulberry dress
late 14c., developed from 13c. morberie, or cognate Middle High German mul-beri (alteration by dissimilation of Old High German mur-beri, Modern German Maulbeere); both from Latin morum “mulberry, blackberry,” + Old English berie, Old High German beri “berry.” The Latin word probably is from Greek moron “mulberry,” from PIE *moro- “blackberry, mulberry” (cf. Armenian mor “blackberry,” Middle Irish merenn, Welsh merwydden “mulberry”). Children’s singing game with a chorus beginning “Here we go round the mulberry bush” is attested from 1820s, first in Scotland.