jackfruitn.
/ˈdʒakfruːt/, U.S. /ˈdʒækˌfrut/ 1. The very large (up to 90 cm) fruit of the tropical Asian tree Artocarpus heterophyllus (family Moraceae), which has a yellow rind covered with fleshy protuberances and yellow flesh and seeds, and can be eaten raw or cooked.
ΚΠ
1681 R. Knox Hist. Relation Ceylon iv. iv. 134 The Jack Fruit the Kings Officers often gather wheresoever it grows, and give to the Kings Elephants.
1732 Coll. Voy. & Trav. (new ed.) II. Index Jaca fruit.
1836 M. Scott Cruise of Midge xxiv. 439 The cook having chosen to roast a jackfruit on a spit.
1900 W. W. Skeat Malay Magic vi. 563 To dream about eating jack-fruit (nangka)..is an indication of great trouble impending.
1908 E. J. Banfield Confessions of Beachcomber i. i. 43 We have..Jack fruit..in plenty.
1921 E. M. Forster Let. 4 June in Hill of Devi (1953) 92 The Jack Fruits are ripening a little—they are extraordinary, with crocodile scales.
1976 K. Thackeray Crownbird v. 91 A separate table bore..tree tomatoes, portions of yellow jackfruit and chilled mountain paw-paw.
2013 N.Y. Mag. 3 June 64/3 The hodgepodge of toppings include jackfruit, sweet potato, and jellylike bricks of nata de coco.
2. A jackfruit tree (see jack n.3).
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > particular fruit-tree or -plant > [noun] > tropical or exotic fruit-tree or -plant > of Asian or South Pacific > other Asian fruit-plants
tallow-tree1704
mangosteen1734
langsat1783
cucumber-tree1784
rambai1811
salak1820
wampee1830
tamarind plum1846
jackfruit1847
ivi1862
longan1866
Tahiti chestnut1884
mape1888
calamondin1890
1847 Jrnl. Hort. Soc. 2 151 The Jack-fruit, or Jacca. (Artocarpus integrifolia, Linn. fil.) There are only a few specimens of that interesting tree in the island.
1875 E. Rich tr. P. Marcoy Trav. S. Amer. II. 112 It is thus that the kinds introduced by the old missionaries, and perfectly acclimatized, such as the sour-sop (Anona muricata), the sapodilla, the mango, the jack-fruit (Artocarpus integrifolia)..and the breadfruit-tree (Artocarpus incisa) have disappeared from the locality.
1902 Queensland Agric. Jrnl. 11 194 The Jackfruit (Artocarpus integrifolia, Linn.) is of the same family and the nearest known relative of the famous Breadfruit (A. incisa).
1966 D. Forbes Heart of Malaya ii. 27 A Malay kampong stands..half hidden by an assortment of fruit trees—durian, jack-fruit, mangosteen and rambutan.
1998 A. Sealy Everest Hotel (1999) 205 The towering silk-cotton, a sombre jackfruit with one sundered fruit hanging like a green lamp, a magnificent tree of heaven, some fine teak, a little crowded together.
2003 Sunday Mail (Brisbane) 13 July 83/1 Breadfruit (Artocarpus altilis) and jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus) are both tropical fruiting trees.
Compounds
General attributive, esp. in jackfruit tree.
ΚΠ
1811–12 W. J. Titford Sketches Hortus Botanicus Americanus Explan. Pl. ii. p. ii Indian Jack Fruit Tree, (artocarpus integrifolia), ord. Monandria. Arboreous; nat. East Indies; thrives well in Jamaica.
1884 Trans. Philol. Soc. 1882–4 64/1 Collection of shell-fish, meat, jack-fruit seeds, iron, flint, or anything in a heap.
1901 Westm. Gaz. 14 Nov. 9/2 The ‘pindas’ offered to their deceased ancestors were placed on plantain or ‘jack fruit’ leaves.
1920 Outward Bound Oct. 44/1 The shameless stranger..issued from the saffron sunset, somewhere behind the spiky line of the mission jack fruit trees.
1997 A. Roy God of Small Things (1998) vi. 145 Ambassador Rahel's giggle escaped in a blue-green bubble (the colour of a jackfruit fly) and burst in the hot air.
2005 Independent 14 Feb. 17/3 These exquisite, life-sized effigies are carved from jack-fruit wood as receptacles for the spirit of the dead in remote Torajaland in Indonesia.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2018; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1681