Word of the Day

: June 13, 2023

fruition

noun froo-ISH-un

What It Means

Fruition refers to a state of being complete or fully realized. It's usually used in the phrases "come to fruition" or "bring to fruition." Fruition can also refer to the state of bearing fruit.

// When she landed the role of Roxy in a Broadway production of Chicago, a lifelong dream was brought to fruition.

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fruition in Context

"Investors debuting on the 2023 Midas list saw their early bets made decades ago come to fruition in recent years." — Rashi Shrivastava, Forbes, 4 May 2023

Did You Know?

Fruition must come from the word fruit, right? Not exactly—the apple falls a little further from the tree than one might think. Fruition and fruit are related (both ultimately come from the Latin verb frui, meaning "to enjoy"), but they came about independently. The original meaning of fruition had nothing to do with fruit. Rather, when the term was first used in the 15th century, it meant only "pleasurable use or possession," as when playwright and Shakespeare contemporary Christopher Marlowe wrote of "the sweet fruition of an earthly crown." Not until several centuries later did fruition develop a second meaning, "the state of bearing fruit," possibly as the result of a mistaken assumption that fruition evolved from fruit. The "state of bearing fruit" sense was followed quickly by the figurative application to anything that can be "realized" and metaphorically bear fruit, such as a plan or a project.