currant \cur"rant\ k?r"rant, n. f. corinthe raisins de
   corinthe raisins of corinth currant in sense 1, from the
   city of corinth in greece, whence, probably, the small dried
   grape 1 was first imported, the ribes fruit 2 receiving
   the name from its resemblance to that grape.
   1913 webster
   1. a small kind of seedless raisin, imported from the levant,
      chiefly from zante and cephalonia; -- used in cookery.
      1913 webster

   2. the acid fruit or berry of the ribes rubrum or common
      red currant, or of its variety, the white currant.
      1913 webster

   3. bot. a shrub or bush of several species of the genus
      ribes a genus also including the gooseberry; esp., the
      ribes rubrum.
      1913 webster

   black currant,a shrub or bush ribes nigrum and ribes
      floridum and its black, strong-flavored, tonic fruit.

   cherry currant, a variety of the red currant, having a
      strong, symmetrical bush and a very large berry.

   currant borer zool., the larva of an insect that bores
      into the pith and kills currant bushes; specif., the
      larvae of a small clearwing moth aegeria
      tipuliformis and a longicorn beetle psenocerus
      supernotatus.

   currant worm zool., an insect larva which eats the leaves
      or fruit of the currant. the most injurious are the
      currant sawfly nematus ventricosus, introduced from
      europe, and the spanworm eufitchia ribearia. the fruit
      worms are the larva of a fly epochra canadensis, and a
      spanworm eupithecia.

   flowering currant, missouri currant, a species of ribes
      ribes aureum, having showy yellow flowers.
      1913 webster
see also:
ribes rubrum ribes black currant ribes nigrum ribes floridum cherry currant 
currant borer aegeria tipuliformis psenocerus supernotatus currant worm nematus ventricosus 
eufitchia ribearia epochra canadensis eupithecia flowering currant missouri currant 
ribes aureum