noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   An offering of the first of the harvest; firstfruits.
2. 2
   The first growth, allegory for the first people to receive the message.

   "For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the branches."

3. 3
   Ceremony in Southern Africa, notably among the Zulu and Swazi peoples, in which the paramount chief is the first to eat from the new harvest.

Example

More examples

"For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the branches."

Etymology

From Middle English firste fruyt, equivalent to first + fruit.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.