dogberry
1 of 2noun (1)
1
: any of certain small fruits usually considered inferior or unfit for human consumption (as the chokeberry, prickly wild gooseberry, certain rose hips, or the fruit of the mountain ash)
especially : the fruit of the red dogwood
2
: any plant (as certain dogwoods, mountain ash, or yellow clintonia) that bears dogberries
Dogberry
2 of 2noun (2)
Dog·ber·ry
ˈdȯgˌberē sometimes ˈdäg-
plural Dogberrys
: a blundering official
often : policeman, constable
Word History
Etymology
Noun (1)
dog entry 1 + berry
Noun (2)
from Dogberry, a foolish constable in Shakespeare's Much Ado about Nothing
First Known Use
Noun (1)
1676, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Noun (2)
1801, in the meaning defined above