Leechee

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A small tropical fruit with a rough red skin and translucent white juicy flesh that is sweet and fragrant ; a tree that produces this fruit, native to southeastern Asia ; the fruit and its seed used in culinary dishes and traditional remedies
2. A type of fruit characterized by its bumpy pink-red rind and sweet, aromatic white pulp ; the tropical evergreen tree bearing this fruit, often grown in warm climates ; commonly eaten fresh or used in desserts and beverages along with its seeds sometimes used in herbal medicine
3. A juicy, round fruit with textured red skin and sweet, succulent white interior ; the tropical tree that bears this fruit, often cultivated in subtropical regions ; edible fruit popularly consumed raw or in preserves, with seeds occasionally used in folk treatments

Etymology: The fruit's name began as a Chinese word that English speakers have spelled in many ways. "Leechee" is one spelling of "litchi," which comes from the Hokkien (southern Chinese) term for the fruit, 荔枝 (lē-chi). Hokkien is a group of dialects spoken in and around Fujian province, where the tree has long been cultivated, so the English name is an echo of a regional Chinese pronunciation rather than of standard Mandarin. The spelling has been unstable for a long time. "Lychee," "lichi," "litchi," and "leechee" all circulate today, and they are doublets: separate English forms that entered the language by different routes but share one ancestor. Each reflects an attempt to render the same Hokkien sounds in English letters, which is why no single spelling is the "correct" one.

Synonyms: lychee