The Name of Apple

The Name of Apple
Scientific names generally consist of two italicized words, the first denoting the genus, the second a species within that genus.

For apple, Malus domestica is the name for the cultivated apple, where Malus is the genus and domestica the species name.

In Latin, Malus is a noun meaning “apple” or alternately, “evil,” “bad,” “or “wrong.” The dual meaning probably stems from the biblical story of Eve and the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden.

The species name domestica is an adjective meaning “around the house” thus, the entire name translates roughly to the domesticated apple.

Neither of the words that the ancient Romans had for apple-malum and pomum – are the source of the English name of this fruit. Instead, apple derives from a Germanic source, one likely related to Avella the name of famous fruit growing region in Italy; however whether the region was named after the fruit or the fruit after the region, is unknown.

In English, the word apple was first recorded in the ninth century, but at that time, and for centuries after, it was used to refer not only to apples in particular, but also to fruit in general: Aelfric, for example, the greatest prose writer of Old English, even referred to the cucumber as an apple.

Last, but not least, someone always has to take credit for things, so the authority is tacked in the scientific name, denoting the person who named the plant.

In the case of apple, it was a botanist named Borkhausen, so the precise full name for apple is Malus domestica Borkh.
The Name of Apple