blueberryn.
/ˈbluːb(ə)ri/, U.S. /ˈbluˌbɛri/ 1. The sweet blue berry (often with a light blue bloom) of various shrubs of the genus Vaccinium; esp. the berry of V. corymbosum and its cultivated varieties (see sense 2), which is eaten fresh and used in baking.Recorded earliest in attributive use.
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the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > particular types of fruit > [noun] > edible berries > other berries
blueberry1594
hedge-berry1607
elderberry1625
huckleberry1670
bearberry1677
cloudberry1743
baked apple1750
pembina1760
service1785
honeyberry1787
nub-berry1794
bluet1812
noop1817
squawberry1829
quandong1836
miro1838
strawberry guava1901
squash-berry1935
tayberry1977
tummelberry1984
1594 Acts Parl. Scotl. (1816) IV. 90/1 The holmes of Annand callit the Blewberrielandis.
1670 W. Dyre Exper. & Geogr. Descr. Mayn & New Hampsh. 2 Blewberries, also Musk-mellons, Water-mellons, and Cucumbers, with all manner of Plants, Herbs and Roots.
1703 M. Martin Descr. W. Islands Scotl. 182 Fluxes are Cur'd by taking now and then a spoonful of the Syrup of blew Berries that grow on the Mertillus.
1768 T. Smollett Present State All Nations I. 30 Among the fruits of Groenland we number juniperberries, blueberries, bilberries, and brambleberries.
1845 C. Churchill Memorials Missionary Life Nova Scotia vii. 175 It is almost impossible to form an estimate of the immense quantity of the common blueberry found in a favourable season.
1883 Harper's Mag. Mar. 603/2 We are feasting now upon blue-berries.
1927 Times 1 July p. xix/6 The principal fruits handled in Ontario and Quebec are apples, pears, plums, peaches,..blueberries, raspberries and strawberries.
1976 D. Heffron Crusty Crossed ix. 69 Blueberries really are blue, but they turn whatever they touch into purple.
2010 Ebony Feb. 120/2 The blueberry is ranked as the #1 antioxidant and is known as the ‘brain berry’.
2. Any of numerous ericaceous plants of the genus Vaccinium which produce these berries; esp. V. corymbosum, a large deciduous shrub with dark green leaves and small white bell-shaped flowers, native to eastern North America; (also) any of the numerous cultivated varieties of this plant or others in the genus, grown widely (esp. in North America) for their fruit.
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the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > particular fruit-tree or -plant > [noun] > tree or plant producing edible berries > bilberry bush > types of
blueberry1785
swamp blueberry1860
1785 M. Cutler in Mem. Amer. Acad. Arts & Sci. 1 439 The Bilberry or Blueberry. These shrubs are low when they grow on high land, but tall in swamps.
1826 Boston News-let. & City Rec. 18 Mar. 152/2 She described Boston at that time as very uneven, abounding in small hollows and swamps, and covered with blueberry and other bushes.
1870 Amer. Naturalist 4 216 The Swamp Blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum) with its great variety of forms, is a very attractive shrub.
1921 Garden Mag. Apr. 158/1 Plant blueberries for pleasure and profit.
1957 Holland (Michigan) Evening Sentinel 12 June 8/1 In the last 10 years 1,000 acres of blueberries have become productive and another 500 are in process.
2008 D. L. Martin Best Ever Backyard Birding Tips i. 19/1 Blueberries are fantastic plants. These shrubs are almost entirely free of pests and diseases.
Compounds
General attributive, as blueberry bush, blueberry muffin, blueberry pie, etc.
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1594Blewberrielandis [see sense 1].
1793 P. Whitney Hist. County Worcester 238 Where there is any earth, it is covered with blueberry bushes for acres round.
1829 Morning Chron. 24 Sept. By this time the blueberry pie was finished.
1834 Amer. Ladies' Mag. Feb. 82 ‘Aunt Ben's blueberry cakes’, were celebrated for their superiority, many miles around.
1871 G. L. Huyshe Red River Exped. vii. 134 We filled every spare vessel we had with gallons of blue-berries; we had blue-berry jam, blue-berry bread, and blue-berries in every conceivable shape.
1916 Country Gentleman 16 Sept. 1707/2 By adding fresh blueberries you have the blueberry muffin, and by elaborating still more you get the famous old Yankee ‘blueb'ry puddin'’.
1967 Mrs. L. B. Johnson White House Diary 11 June (1970) 527 We went in to breakfast.., including blueberry pancakes, and, naturally, Vermont maple syrup.
1974 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 26 Aug. 9/2 They discovered the seemingly endless tracts of blueberry bushes.
2010 Independent 25 Aug. 32/2 It started with the blueberry muffin (remember when they made their splotchy debut at your local Starbucks?).
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2013; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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