🌳 A small tree 🫐 An edible berry

serviceberry

8.2

A small dark purple edible berry often used in jams and pies

noun
/ˈsɜrvɪsˌbɛri/

: serviceberry

I picked fresh serviceberries from the tree.

Examples

She picked a bowl of fresh serviceberries from the bush in her backyard.
The serviceberry is often used in jams and pies because of its sweet taste.
Birds are attracted to the serviceberries that ripen in early summer.
The serviceberry is delicious and nutritious.
The children picked ripe serviceberries from the bush in the backyard.
You can make delicious jam with serviceberries harvested in late summer.
Each summer, we enjoy the sweet taste of fresh serviceberries from the local trees.

Synonyms

shadberry

vsserviceberry

9.9

A red or purple berry that you can eat from a small wild tree

is the general name for edible berries from that genus

juneberry

vsserviceberry

8.4

A small purple or red berry that people can eat

is the broader term for such berries rather than one species

saskatoon

vsserviceberry

9.9

A small purple or red berry that people eat and use in pies and jams

is the general name for edible berries of the genus, not only that species

Compounds

alder-leaved serviceberry

9.9

A small tree or bush from northwestern North America with creamy white flowers and small purple-red berries

Surface Forms

serviceberry singular

serviceberries plural

Morphology

serviceberry = service + berry (opaque) = service + berry

Although formed from the words 'service' and 'berry', the 'service' element refers to a particular tree name (service/service-tree) and does not transparently indicate the botanical meaning to an average learner.

Etymology

Serviceberry for the fruit follows the same idea: people used the tree's name sarvis for its sweet purple or red berries because the fruit appears soon after the spring bloom and the return of community 'services'. That's why serviceberry now means the edible berry that is often used in pies and jams.