Rambutan

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: [ɹamˈbjʉːtən]

Definitions

1. A tropical fruit with a hairy or spiky red exterior and translucent white sweet flesh inside, native to Southeast Asia
2. A tropical fruit characterized by its red, spiky outer skin and sweet, translucent white interior, commonly found in Southeast Asia
3. An exotic fruit featuring a hairy red exterior and juicy white pulp within, originating from regions in Southeast Asia
4. A tropical fruit known for its hairy red rind and juicy, sweet white flesh, primarily found in regions of Southeast Asia
5. This exotic fruit features a spiky red skin that encases a sweet, translucent flesh, commonly grown in tropical climates

Etymology: The rambutan takes its name from the fruit's hairy skin. Its name comes from Malay, where "rambut" means "hair", and the suffix "-an" is a common Malay ending that forms nouns. So "rambutan" is roughly "the hairy thing," a plain descriptive label for a fruit whose red, spiky-looking rind is covered in soft, flexible projections. The fruit is native to the Malay Archipelago and nearby parts of Southeast Asia, and English took the Malay name largely unchanged. Because the word arrived intact from its source language, its meaning has stayed exactly where it started: it names a single fruit, and the hair in question is simply the skin's fine, fleshy filaments.