Akees

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A tropical fruit native to West Africa but widely grown in Jamaica, the edible part is only safe to eat when fully ripe ; referring to the plant that bears this fruit ; sometimes used to denote the seeds within the fruit
2. A term for a fruit that must be harvested carefully when mature to avoid toxicity ; the tree producing such a fruit ; can also mean the inedible black seeds encased inside
3. Denotes a distinctive tree recognized for its fruit, which is a culinary staple in some cultures if properly prepared ; the fruit itself, known for both its flavor and its risks when unripe ; occasionally applied to describe the internal seeds of this plant

Etymology: Akee is the name of a tropical fruit tree, Blighia sapida, and its fruit, which must be left to ripen fully on the tree and opened only once it has split open naturally, since the unripe arils are poisonous. The word "akees" is simply the plural of "akee," so it refers to several of these fruits, or to the trees that bear them. Its ultimate origin is the Twi name for the fruit, "akyee," which passed into English through the transatlantic slave trade and the Caribbean, where the tree was carried from West Africa and became a staple food in Jamaica.

Synonyms: ackees