خربزه (kharboze) is the Persian word for muskmelon or cantaloupe. Its ultimate origin is uncertain; it is attested in Middle Persian but competing etymologies exist, and it was itself the source from which later languages, including Russian via Ottoman Turkish, borrowed their word for melon.
توت فرنگی (tut farangi) means strawberry in Persian. The compound blends tut (mulberry) with farangi (European, from Old French franc), literally a foreign mulberry introduced from Europe.
آلبالو (âlbâlu) means sour cherry in Persian. It is a contraction of the older form âlubâlu, a compound of âlu (plum) and bâlu, whose ultimate origin linguists link tentatively to Caucasian language roots.
گیلاس (gilâs) means sweet cherry in Persian. The word derives ultimately from Greek kerasi (κεράσι), reaching Persian through Azerbaijani or Armenian as an intermediary.
زردآلو (zardâlu) means apricot in Persian. It is a native Persian compound: زرد (zard, yellow) plus آلو (âlu, plum), together meaning “yellow plum.”
هلو (holu) means peach in Persian. It is a Northwestern Iranian word, a dialectal doublet of âlu (plum), and belongs to the ancient Iranian layer of the language.
آلو (âlu) means plum or prune in Persian. The word is traceable to Middle Persian âlūg, making it core Iranian vocabulary, though it is also a wanderwort that spread into unrelated language families.
زرشک (zereshk) are the tart, jewel-red barberries that dot Persian rice dishes. The word is native Iranian, related to the root for “yellow” across Iranian languages.
خرما (khormâ) means dates, the fruit of the date palm. It is a pure Persian word from Middle Persian xormā, and the source of the Turkish and Azerbaijani word hurma for the same fruit.
کشمش (keshmesh) means raisins. The origin is uncertain and possibly Turkic, linked to Bukhara where the seedless grape variety is said to originate. Persian exported the word widely.
