Pineapples

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A tropical fruit with rough, spiky skin and sweet juicy flesh often eaten fresh or used in cooking and beverages ; the edible body of this plant known for its distinctive appearance and flavor ; a popular fruit cultivated in warm climates for its unique taste and texture
2. A large tropical fruit recognized by its tough, spiked exterior and fragrant, sugary interior used in a variety of culinary dishes and drinks ; the consumable produce of a plant prized for its sweet flavor and fibrous texture ; a commonly grown fruit in tropical regions valued both fresh and processed
3. An edible tropical fruit characterized by a hard, segmented rind and soft, sweet interior commonly consumed raw or cooked ; the fruit-bearing plant known for its distinctive appearance and tropical origin ; a fruit essential in many cuisines worldwide for its refreshing and tangy taste

Etymology: The surprise here is that the fruit is named after a cone. Middle English "pinappel" meant "pinecone," literally "pine-apple" or "pine-fruit," and the name was only transferred to the tropical fruit later, because its scaly, segmented rind looked like a pinecone's. Speakers of Middle Dutch, Middle Low German, and Old High German used the same compound for the pinecone itself, and the root of the idea reaches back to post-Classical Latin "pomum pini," meaning "fruit of the pine." The English word is a transparent compound of "pine" and "apple," though the sense of "apple" here is the broad old one of any fruit or nut, not the modern orchard apple. The Spanish "piña," which also means both pinecone and pineapple, shows the same logic from another direction. Pineapples are also a source of a second, unrelated sense. Australians use "pineapple" for the yellow fifty-dollar banknote from the first three series of the Australian dollar, named for its colour. Its companions were the lobster for the twenty and the watermelon for the hundred.

Synonyms: ananas