kruisbessie, noun

/ˈkreɪsbesi//ˈkrœɪsbesi/
Forms:
Formerly also kruisbesje, kruysbesjie.
Origin:
Afrikaans, South African Dutch, DutchShow more Afrikaans, earlier South African Dutch kruysbesje, Dutch kruys cross + besje (from Dutch bes) berry; see quotation 1913.
a. The fruit of Grewia occidentalis of the Tiliaceae; four corners sense b. b. The small tree or shrub Grewia occidentalis, with mauve-pink flowers and characteristic four-lobed berries; buttonwood; cross-berry; dew-berry; four corners sense a. c. rare. Any plant of the genus Grewia. Also attributive. See also assegai wood, rosyntjie.
1887 S.W. Silver & Co.’s Handbk to S. Afr. 139Kruysbesjies are the fruit of the Grewia occidentalis.
1894 R. Marloth in Trans. of S. Afr. Phil. Soc. p.lxxxivGreewia flava (Kruisbesje).
1913 C. Pettman Africanderisms 284Kruisbesjes,..The fruit of Grewia occidentalis is known in the Cape Colony by this name, the reference being apparently to the cross-like arrangement of the four-lobed drupe.
1934 Sunday Times 25 Feb. (Swart)The three children were on their way from school and passed through a patch of ‘Kruisbessie’ bushes, which had just been sprayed.
1934 C.P. Swart Supplement to Pettman. 99Kruisbessie,..Grewia occidentalis or four-corners is so designated on account of its shape.
1966 C.A. Smith Common Names 314Kruisbessie(boom), Grewia occidentalis. A shrub or small tree...The branches were much favoured by Bushmen for making their bows..and by natives for their assegai shafts.
1972 I.C. Verdoorn in Std Encycl. of Sn Afr. V. 83Kruisbessie. Rosyntjebos, (Grewia sp.)...The one common name refers to the arrangement of the fruits, which usually occur in fours and form a cross.
1983 H. Thesen in Outeniqualander/Herald 21 Dec. 26The bush-buck ram..can eat the most juicy tips of ‘kruisbessie’..to his heart’s content.
1990 Weekend Post 17 Feb. 7A small tree which deserves to be grown more frequently in our gardens is Grewia occidentalis. It..bears pretty many-petalled pinky/mauve flowers..and these are followed by red berries borne in fours in the form of a cross. Hence the common name crossberry or kruisbessie.
1992 H. Hutchings in Weekend Post 22 Aug. (Leisure) 7The shape of the berries gives rise to the common name of cross berry or kruisbessie.
The fruit of Grewia occidentalis of the Tiliaceae; four corners sense b.
The small tree or shrub Grewia occidentalis, with mauve-pink flowers and characteristic four-lobed berries; buttonwood; cross-berry; dew-berry; four corners sense a.
Any plant of the genus Grewia. Also attributive.
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rare or nonce
kruidjie-roer-my-nie, nounn.kruithoring, nounn.
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