> [[piwowarczyk]]. "The Proto-Indo-European Root for 'Apple' and the Problem of Comparative Reconstruction". > [pdf](a/d-piwowarczyk2014.pdf) ## Abstract This article investigates the problem of the lexeme for ‘apple’ in the reconstructed Indo-European for which there are two roots possible, namely `*meh2-lo` and `*h2ebol-`, both meaning ‘apple’ or a fruit similar to it. The former has been usually taken as a borrowing while the latter as a true PIE root for ‘apple’. However, there are problems with this assumption – the presence of the vowel `*/a/` and the consonant `*/b/`, both of marginal status, and the attestation of this lexeme mostly in the North-West Indo-European languages. It is shown that the lexeme in question might actually be an ancient Wanderwort.