Ziziphus

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A genus of flowering plants in the buckthorn family, known for producing edible fruits that are often used in traditional medicine
2. Characterized by trees and shrubs that bear small, sweet, and chewy fruits commonly referred to as jujubes
3. Referring to a group of hardy plants cultivated for their nutritional value and sometimes used for landscaping or ornamental purposes

Etymology: The fruit most English speakers know as the jujube comes from the same plant. Greek writers called the tree "zizyphon," and that name passed through Latin "zizyphum" and Old French "jujube" into English, so the lozenge-style sweet and the botanical genus are cousins descended from one Greek word. The Greek name itself is likely of Persian or Arabic origin, possibly related to the Arabic "zufzuf," though the exact route is uncertain. When botanists needed a scientific name for the genus, they adopted the Greek form and gave it a Latin shape, which is why "ziziphus" looks like a Latin word even though its roots lie in the eastern Mediterranean and Middle East. The genus includes the jujube, Ziziphus jujuba, whose dried fruits have long been eaten and used in traditional remedies.

Synonyms: jujube, buckthorn, christ's thorn, spiny shrub, tree