coconut

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈkəʊ.kə.nʌt/ (UK); /ˈkoʊ.kəˌnʌt/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is from English coco + nut, also spelled cocoanut,^[2][3][4] coco being borrowed from Portuguese côco (“grinning skull, goblin; coconut”),^[5][6] probably from Late Latin coccum (“shell”),^[5] because the three spots on the base of the nut look like a face.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The fruit of the coconut palm: the 1610s in Etymonline, the early 17th century in the Shorter Oxford;^[2][7] Merriam-Webster dates it to 1516.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The dried, shredded flesh used in cooking and confectionery is by 1830,^[2] and coconut oil is from 1829.^[2] The head is slang from 1834.^[2][7] In American slang a coconut is also a Mexican American thought to reject his heritage, brown on the outside and white inside.^[8]

Timeline

• 1516 – coconut (Merriam-Webster).^[3]
• 1610s – coconut (Etymonline).^[2]
• 1829 – coconut oil.^[2]
• 1834 – the head (slang).^[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. The large hard-shelled seed of the coconut palm, with edible white flesh around a hollow filled with milky fluid.
2. The edible white flesh of this seed, often shredded.
3. The coconut palm itself.

Word family

• coconut milk
• coconut oil
• coconut butter
• double coconut
• coconut cream

Related words

• coco
• cocoa
• cocoon
• copra
• coir

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
5. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
6. ^ a b Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English (2009), 5th ed., Harlow: Pearson Longman
7. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ Dalzell, Tom; Victor, Terry, eds. (2013), The New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, 2nd ed., London: Routledge