Exact historical dictionary sense
Fruit in Webster's 1913 dictionary
The 1913 record labels fruit as noun. Its source-bounded etymology and selected historical definition appear below.
[OE. fruit, frut, F. fruit, from L. fructus enjoyment, product, fruit, from frui, p. p. fructus, to enjoy; akin to E. brook, v. t. See Brook, v. t., and cf. Fructify, Frugal.]
Cross-verified historical senseIn Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), "fruit" is labeled noun. Its etymology is recorded as: "[OE. fruit, frut, F. fruit, from L. fructus enjoyment, product, fruit, from frui, p. p. fructus, to enjoy; akin to E. brook, v. t. See Brook, v. t., and cf. Fructify, Frugal.]" The selected historical definition says: "Whatever is produced for the nourishment or enjoyment of man or animals by the processes of vegetable growth, as corn, grass, cotton, flax, etc.; -- commonly used in the plural."