peach
UK[piːtʃ]US[piːtʃ]
n
A round, soft fruit with yellow or orange and red skin, sweet juicy flesh, and a large rough seed inside.
n
A pale pinkish-orange color.
adj
Of a pale pinkish-orange color.
Etymology
The word 'peach' entered English via the Old French 'pesche', which itself evolved from the Latin 'persica', a shortening of 'malum Persicum', meaning "Persian apple". This name reflects the fruit's historical route of introduction into Europe from Persia. The Latin term 'Persica' is derived from 'Persicus', meaning "Persian", indicating the fruit's origin as understood by the ancient Romans. Over centuries, the word was phonetically simplified through French transmission, losing its clear morphological connection to Persia and becoming the simple, unsegmentable noun we use today.
Analysis
The word 'peach' is a simplex word. It is a loanword from Old French, which derived it from Latin. The Latin root 'persica' (meaning "Persian apple") is not directly segmentable within the modern English spelling.
Examples
She bit into the ripe, juicy peach.
The walls of the nursery were painted a soft peach.
He ordered a peach iced tea on the hot summer day.