durian

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

noun tree of southeastern Asia having edible oval fruit with a hard spiny rind
noun huge fruit native to southeastern Asia `smelling like Hell and tasting like Heaven'; seeds are roasted and eaten like nuts

From Malay durian, ultimately from Proto-Austronesian *duʀi (“thorn”). Doublet of iwi, from Māori.

It picked up the Durian which lay there and began to devour it. — Blown to Bits; or, The Lonely Man of Rakata, R. M. (Robert Michael) Ballantyne
There were great rice curries on brass plates, with forty sambuls> within easy reach of all, luscious mangosteens, creamy durians and mangoes, and betel-nuts with lemon leaves and lime and spices. — Tales of the Malayan Coast: From Penang to the Philippines, Rounsevelle Wildman
All vied in their attentions; fruit enough to fill a room: the luscious durian, the delicate mangosteen and lousch, the grateful rombusteen, the baluna, pitabu, mowha, plantain, &c., &c., were showered upon us from all quarters. — The Expedition to Borneo of H.M.S. Dido: For the Suppression of Piracy, Henry, Sir Keppel

durion, durian tree, Durio zibethinus

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