Jackfruit

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. This sizable tropical fruit features a distinct sweetness and a fibrous texture, commonly incorporated into various cuisines and culinary applications, while the tree that produces it is originally from South Asia
2. Known for its large size and sweet taste, this exotic fruit has a unique fibrous structure and finds use in both sweet and savory recipes, with its tree hailing from South Asia
3. A very large fruit from a tropical tree, known for its sweet and stringy edible flesh that is used in cooking ; The tropical tree native to South Asia that bears this distinctive fruit

Etymology: The jackfruit's name is a traveller's compound. The tree is native to the Western Ghats of India, and the fruit's name came into English by way of Portuguese traders, who took it from "jaca", a word that in turn came from the Malayalam "cakka" (also found in Tamil as "cakkai"). The English then simply added "fruit" to the borrowed term, giving a name that records the route the fruit took from South India through Portuguese hands to English speakers. Because the word is a borrowing rather than a native English coinage, its first syllable never meant "jack" in the everyday sense. The "jack" element is entirely the Portuguese-derived name, and the compound "fruit" is the only part English supplied itself.

Synonyms: jakfruit