raisin [ME] When raisin came into English it could be used both for the dried grape and for a fresh grape or bunch of grapes. It was borrowed from French reisin, raisin, which went back to Latin racemus ‘bunch of grapes’, source also of raceme [LME], originally another word for a bunch of grapes but from the late 18th century a botanical term for a flower head where the flowers are arranged somewhat like a bunch of grapes.