first fruitn.
/ˌfəːs(t) ˈfruːt/, U.S. /ˌfərs(t) ˈfrut/ 1. Chiefly in plural. The first agricultural products of a season, esp. with reference to the custom of making offerings of these to God or the gods.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > worship > sacrifice or a sacrifice > kinds of sacrifice > [noun] > of first fruits > that which is offered
primicesa1325
first fruita1382
primrose1590
the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > cultivation of plants or crops > harvesting > [noun] > harvest > first-fruits
primicesa1325
first fruita1382
a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Bodl. 959) (1961) Num. xviii. 12 What euer þyng þei sholyn offre of ferst frutys [L. primitiarum] to þe lord.
1483 Catholicon Anglicum (BL Add. 89074) (1881) 132 Þe Firste Frute, primicie.
1535 Bible (Coverdale) Lev. ii. 14 Yf thou wilt offre a meatofferynge of the first frutes vnto ye Lorde.
1600 R. Chambers Palestina 177 They grinded the corne..& offered it with frankensence, as the first fruits of the earth.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost xi. 435 Thither anon A sweatie Reaper from his Tillage brought First Fruits . View more context for this quotation
1725 A. Pope tr. Homer Odyssey III. xiv. 497 The first-fruits to the Gods he gave.
1792 W. Bartram Trav. N. & S. Carolina (new ed.) iv. iii. 507 The busk or feast of first fruits is their principal festival.
1852 J. Dixon Gen. Introd. Sacred Script. II. xvi. iv. 91 Each one was bound to offer on his own part, the first-fruits of his vineyard, of his trees, of his corn, his honey, and of the wool of his flocks.
1870 W. C. Bryant tr. Homer Iliad I. ix. 292 The first-fruits of his fertile field.
1949 H. Wilcox Six Moons in Sulawesi (1989) viii. 190 Women brought out a huge pot of cooked rice, the harvest firstfruits.
1997 J. Bowker World Relig. 128/2 Shavuot, the second pilgrim festival, celebrated the offering of the first fruits and the giving of the law to Moses on Mount Sinai.
2. figurative and in extended use.
a. In plural. The earliest products or results of anything; the first products of a person's work or endeavour. Also (with singular reference): something representative of a greater quantity that is expected later.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > creation > [noun] > production > product > products > first or early products
first fruitc1384
c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Royal) (1850) Apoc. xiv. 4 Thes [sc. virgins] ben bouȝt of alle, primycies, or firste fruytis [L. primitiae], to God, and to the lomb.
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) I. ix. xxx. 544 We..offriþ to God firste fruytes of oure tyme in feiþ of þe trinyte.
c1450 (?c1425) St. Mary of Oignies i. i, in Anglia (1885) 8 135 She knelyd byfore hir bedde and offred to oure lorde orysouns..as firste fruytes of hir lyfe.
a1500 ( J. Lydgate tr. Life St. Alban & St. Amphibal (Lansd.) (1974) l. 601 Grant vs goodly..The first frutes of our chyvalrie To Mars..knyhtly to dedie, In your presence, with Iustis or tornaye.
1597 R. Hooker Of Lawes Eccl. Politie v. lvi. 126 The first fruites of Christs Spirit.
1611 Bible (King James) 1 Cor. xv. 23 But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first fruits of them that slept. View more context for this quotation
1641 H. L'Estrange Gods Sabbath Thomason Tracts CLXXV. No. 12. Ep. Ded. B1 This Treatise is the first fruits of my studies.
1653 I. Walton Compl. Angler 56 It is a good beginning of your art to offer your first-fruits to the poor. View more context for this quotation
1718 M. Prior Poems Several Occasions (new ed.) Postscript to Pref. The blooming Hopes..[of] my then very Young Patron have been confirmed by most Noble First-Fruits.
1776 D. Garrick Let. 16 Dec. in D. Garrick & G. Spencer Lett. (1960) 67 I was promis'd the first Copy of Mr Sheridan's Epilogue to the New Tragedy..& I was so struck with..it..that I was resolv'd your Ladyship should have the first fruits.
1820 J. Grant Hist. Eng. Church & Dissenters xxix. 344 From such first fruits an abundant harvest is augured.
1868 E. A. Freeman Hist. Norman Conquest II. vii. 72 One of the first-fruits of the great national reaction.
1925 A. Locke New Negro p. xi We speak of the offerings of this book..as culled from the first fruits of the Negro Renaissance.
1944 J. Leeper Eng. Ballet 27 In spite of the war we are beginning to gather the first-fruits of courage and endurance and to produce ballets of permanent value.
2004 Church Times 9 Jan. 19/1 The Risen Christ..is the paradigm and the firstfruits of God's new creation.
b. In singular. A first product or result; something representative of a greater quantity that is expected later.
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1483 W. Caxton tr. J. de Voragine Golden Legende f. ccxxxix/1 Presented hym to our lord, as an hand ful of the first fruyte of the to comyng haruest [L. primitiarum manipulum futurae messis].
1534 W. Marshall tr. Erasmus Playne & Godly Expos. Commune Crede f. 84 He rose beynge the fyrste frute of them that slepe.
1682 E. Waller Poems (ed. 4) 245 As a First-fruit, Heaven claim'd that Lovely Boy, The next shall live and be the Nation's Joy.
1718 M. Prior Solomon on Vanity iii, in Poems Several Occasions (new ed.) 487 His younger Son..First Fruit of Death, lies Plaintiff of a wound Given by a Brother's Hand.
1866 J. H. Newman Dream of Gerontius iii. 25 That calm and joy uprising in thy soul Is first-fruit to thee of thy recompense.
1907 Amer. Jrnl. Sociol. 13 227 This Dutch government..would have brought opium to Dutch New Guinea..if luckily the move in that direction, for poisoning the Papuas as a first-fruit of western civilization, had not been checked by public opinion.
2007 Gramophone Feb. 77/3 This is the partnership's first fruit. I hope there is much more to come, for this is Schumann-playing on an exalted level.
3. Chiefly in plural. Ecclesiastical Law and Feudal Law. A payment, usually representing the amount of the first year's income, formerly paid by each new holder of a feudal or ecclesiastical benefice, or any office of profit, to some superior. Now historical.The first fruits of the English bishoprics and other benefices were paid before the Reformation to the Pope, afterwards to the Crown: see annate n. 2.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > fees and taxes > impost, due, or tax > payment or service to feudal superior > [noun] > of first year's profits
first fruit1395
primer seisin1488
Remonstr. against Romish Corruptions (Titus) (1851) 88 The tresour of the rewme shal be borun out..in parti in the court of the pope..and in parti in raunsum of oure lige men..and in parti in the firste fruytis.
c1405 (c1395) G. Chaucer Summoner's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 569 This worthy man, youre Confessour..Shal han the firste fruyt as reson is The noble vsage of freres yet is this.
?c1430 (c1400) J. Wyclif Eng. Wks. (1880) 66 (MED) It is symonye to..ȝeue hym [sc. the Pope]..þe frystefruytes for ȝifte of a chirche.
?1542 H. Brinkelow Complaynt Roderyck Mors Contents sig. A2v Of first frutes both of benefices and of lordes landes.
1587 W. Harrison Descr. Eng. (1877) ii. i. i. 24 Our first fruits, which is one whole yeares commoditie of our living.
1622 F. Bacon Hist. Raigne Henry VII 16 The King did vse to rayse them [Bishops] by steps; that hee might not loose the profit of the First-fruits.
1710 J. Swift Let. to Harley 7 Oct. in Wks. (1766) X. 34 The first-fruits paid by incumbents upon their promotion amount to l. 450 per annum.
1767 W. Blackstone Comm. Laws Eng. (new ed.) II. 67 The king used to take..the first fruits, that is to say, one year's profits of the land.
1855 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. III. xv. 557 The hereditary revenue..was derived from the rents of the royal domains,..from the first fruits and tenths of benefices [etc.].
1906 H. Lansdell Sacred Tenth I. 262 And also that Cyricsceat (firstfruits), due out of every freeman's house, must be paid to the mother Church.
1953 D. Hay Rom. Empire to Renaissance Europe iii. vii. 178 ‘Annates’ or the first fruits of benefices, exacted from all clergy who were provided with a living by the pope.
2005 C. Harper-Bill in P. Hoskin et al. Found. Medieval Eng. Eccl. Hist. 109 What is certainly referred to is the right of the bishop of Norwich to receive the first-fruits of benefices which had fallen vacant and to which he had instituted new incumbents.
Compounds
C1. attributive, as first-fruit offering.
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1583 B. Melbancke Philotimus (new ed.) 109 I..would to you, O goddesse you, giue vp my firste fruit offeringes.
1695 W. Congreve Love for Love Prol. sig. a2v We..bring this day, The First-fruit Offering of a Virgin Play.
1800 G. Wakefield tr. Dio Chrysostom Sel. Ess. 22 Dances too may be indulged, of a spirit congenial with these songs;... performed as a first-fruit offering to the Gods.
1839 Athenæum 19 Oct. 789/2 Among the first-fruit offerings of the season is The Gift, from the other side of the Atlantic.
1903 J. Y. Gibson Story of Zulus (1911) xiv. 144 The regiments..were at the royal kraal for the first-fruit festival.
1970 A. F. C. Wallace & S. C. Steen Death & Rebirth of the Seneca (1972) i. 17 June is the time of the Strawberry Festival, the first fruits ceremony.
1996 B. S. Spaeth Rom. Goddess Ceres v. 112 First-fruit offerings were made to agricultural deities.
C2.
first-fruits book n. (also first-fruit book) now historical a record of first-fruits (sense 3).
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1631 T. Powell Tom of All Trades 15 Such Benefices as..are aboue twenty pounds value in the first Fruits Bookes.
1655 T. Fuller Church-hist. Brit. i. 190 That there were in England foure thousand five hundred Benefices with Cure, not above ten, and most of them under eight pounds in the first fruits-book.
1816 W. S. Mason Statist. Acct. Ireland II. 86 The following list, extracted from the First Fruits' Books, contains the names of the incumbents of this parish.
1840 Courier 14 May The defendant showed, from ‘First Fruits’ books and other public records, uniform collation by his predecessors for 200 years.
1922 T. Venn Alumni Cantabrigienses: Abbas-Cutts I. p. xiii We have therefore had to take the more laborious course of consulting the various County Histories, and, where these failed, consulting the First-Fruit books at the Record Office.
1974 J. M. Horn in J. Le Neve Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1541–1857 3 5 These sources, together with..subscription books, first-fruit books and letters, have made reasonably complete lists of office-holders.
Derivatives
first-ˈfruitable adj. Apparently an isolated use.
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1621 R. Montagu Diatribæ Hist. Tithes 302 Euery herbe was Titheable..and if so, then shew reason why not first-fruitable also.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2014; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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n.a1382