apricot means of a pale yellowish-orange colour, like that of an apricot.
apricot is pronounced /ˈeɪ.pɹɪ.kɒt/.
Why “apricot” is a great word
A pale yellowish-orange colour, like that of an apricot fruit. From dialectal Catalan abrecoc, abricoc, from Arabic الْبَرْقُوق (al-barqūq, "plums"), from Byzantine Greek βερικοκκία (berikokkía, "apricot tree"), from Ancient Greek πραικόκιον (praikókion), from Late Latin (persica) praecocia, literally "(peaches) which ripen early," from praecoquus ("early-ripening"). Unlike "peach," which conjures a fuzzier, pinker blush, or "ochre," which speaks of muted, earthy pigments, "apricot" is the hue of delicate, specific ripeness. It is the soft underside of a dawn cloud, the faded silk of a 1920s dressing gown, the tender flesh of the fruit itself just yielding to the thumb—a colour named not for earth or fire, but for a perfect and fleeting moment in the sun.
Etymology
Alteration of apricock (with influence from French abricot), itself an alteration of abrecock (with influence from Latin apricum (“sunny place”)), from dialectal Catalan abrecoc, abricoc, variants of standard albercoc, from Arabic الْبَرْقُوق (al-barqūq, “plums”), from Byzantine Greek βερικοκκία (berikokkía, “apricot tree”), from Ancient Greek πραικόκιον (praikókion), from Late Latin (persica) praecocia (literally “(peaches) which ripen early”), (mālum) praecoquum (literally “(apple) which ripens early”). Doublet of precocious.
adj
- Of a pale yellowish-orange colour, like that of an apricot.
noun
- A round sweet and juicy stone fruit, resembling peach or plum in taste, with a yellow-orange flesh, lightly fuzzy skin and a large seed inside.e.g.“pickled apricots”
- The apricot tree, Prunus armeniaca.
- A pale yellow-orange colour, like that of an apricot fruit.
- A dog with an orange-coloured coat.
- The junction of the brain and brain stem on a target, used as an aiming point to ensure a one-shot kill.
- A testicle.e.g.“Hot water has always made my apricots sag.”
Words closest in meaning
By meaning, not spelling — each word's AI semantic fingerprint, nearest first.
- apricotlike 75% match — Resembling or characteristic of apricots. vs apricot →
- apricotty 73% match — Resembling apricots, apricotlike. vs apricot →
- apricoty 72% match — Resembling apricots, apricotlike. vs apricot →
- aprium 62% match — A plum-apricot cross, with characteristics of both fruits. vs apricot →
- melocoton 60% match — A kind of yellow-fleshed peach having red skin vs apricot →
- pomegranate 58% match — The fruit of the Punica granatum, about the size of an orange with a thick, hard, reddish skin enclosing many seeds, each with an edible pink or red pulp tasting both sweet and tart. vs apricot →
- persicot 56% match — A cocktail made of the kernels of apricots, nectarines, etc., with refined spirit. vs apricot →
- cling 55% match — Fruit (especially peach) whose flesh adheres strongly to the pit. vs apricot →