Eve's Apple

Eve, it is often pointed out, may not have eaten of an apple, but of a fruit (Genesis 3:6). Yet what actually lies behind this is more interesting still. Until the late 17th Century, the word 'apple' meant 'fruit'. Five-hundred years ago, if one had said: "Eve ate of the apple," it would have been no contest. The contest arises through a changed meaning of the word 'apple' today. See, for instance, the Online Etymology Dictionary. OBSERVATION: Was it really an apple, therefore, which fell on Newton's head? A good example of this phenomenon of shifting meanings is the words of God in the KJV: "I have given you every seed for meat" (Genesis 1:29). But now consider, if meanings were fundamentally shifting five-hundred years ago, then what are they doing today? Further, how did an ancient meaning travel on for centuries, through Genesis 3:6? (Linguistics was a big part of my two postgraduate degrees).