blackcurrant

English
A blackcurrant plant, with berries

Alternative forms

Etymology

From black +‎ currant.

Pronunciation
  • (UK) IPA(key): /ˈblækˌkʌɹənt/
  • (US) IPA(key): /ˈblækˌkɜɹənt/

Noun

blackcurrant (plural blackcurrants)

  1. A shrub, Ribes nigrum, that produces small, very dark purple, edible berries.
    • 1993, R. D. Davidson, 19: The vegetation of Lough Neagh wetlands, R.B. Wood, R.V. Smith (editors), Lough Neagh: The Ecology of a Multipurpose Water Resource, Monographae Biologicae: Volume 69, page 487,
      Blackcurrant (Ribes nigrum) and guelder rose (Viburnum opulus) are frequent but alder buckthorn (Frangula alnus) a common constituent of East Anglian carr is very rare.
    • 2003, European Scientific Cooperative on Phytotherapy, ESCOP Monographs: The Scientific Foundation for Herbal Medicinal Products‎, page 426:
      Blackcurrant leaf has a diuretic action [11,12,14], therefore it should not be taken concurrently with diuretics indicated for cardiac or renal insufficiency except on medical advice.
    • 2005, Bernard Stocks, The Teenage Pensioner‎, page 112:
      On this first day I concentrated on bushes - gooseberry and blackcurrants for the bottom end borders, rhododendrons for the front inside the wall and a couple of hydrangeas in the spaces left in the monoblocking to the left of the front door.
  2. The berry borne by this shrub.
    • 2003, Maria Villegas, Kay Halsey, Sarah Randell, A Little Taste of France, page 120:
      Their wines are intense and elegant, tasting of blackcurrants and made to be aged.
    • 2011, Katherine Swift, The Morville Hours: The Story of a Garden‎, page 222:
      Blackcurrant jam is easy, but this year I have left the blackcurrants so long that they are sweet and ripe enough to eat raw: delicious rolled in a crunch of granulated sugar.

Synonyms
  • black (chiefly in drinks)

Translations

References
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