pineapple

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun a tropical American plant bearing a large fleshy edible fruit with a terminal tuft of stiff leaves; widely cultivated in the tropics
  2. noun large sweet fleshy tropical fruit with a terminal tuft of stiff leaves; widely cultivated

Etymology

From Middle English pinappel (“pinecone”, literally “pine-apple/pine-fruit”), from Proto-West Germanic *pīnapplu. Later applied to the fruit of the pineapple plant due to its resemblance to a pinecone. Compare the Middle Dutch and Dutch pijnappel (“pinecone", formerly also "pineapple”), Afrikaans pynappel (“pineapple”), Middle Low German pinappel, Old High German pīnapful, Middle High German pīnaphel, and early Modern German pinapfel — all in the sense of “pine cone”. Compare also the post-Classical Latin pomum pini, the Old French pume de pin, the Middle French and French pomme de pin and Spanish piña. By surface analysis, pine + apple. Sense "An Australian fifty dollar note": From the yellow colour of a $50 banknote in the first, second, and third series of rice Australian dollar notes. Compare with lobster for a $20 Australian banknote, and watermelon for a $100 Australian banknote.

In classic literature

Synonyms

pineapple plant, Ananas comosus

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