From The Food Encyclopedia by Jacques Rolland and Carol Sherman
A mixture of fruits served as a cold salad or an appetizer. In North America, the term is more often applied to the canned variety, and the term "fruit salad" used for a combination of fresh fruits. Homemade fruit cocktail can contain any type of fruit, such as cubed melon, fresh berries, sliced apples or pears, orange or grapefruit sections, and cubed tropical fruit, such as mango or pineapple. To give the cocktail added flavor and zing, a dash of Champagne or liqueur may be added. The canned version of fruit cocktail usually contains chopped pears and peaches and the ubiquitous and less-than-flavorful grapes and pitted cherries, all floating in a sugary syrup or fruit juice.
