peach

The word traces back to Ancient Greek mâlon persikón, 'Persian apple,' which became Classical Latin mālum persicum and then Late Latin persica. It passed through Vulgar Latin *pessica into Old French pesche, then Middle English peche, giving us English peach.

Over centuries the phrase 'Persian apple' shrank down to a single word, and the reference to Persia faded from view as the sound simplified through French and English.

English once had another word for this fruit, persogȝe, from Old English persoc, which shares the same Latin persicus root but was eventually displaced by peach.