Etymologically
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coconut

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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

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