monkey applen.
/ˈmʌŋkɪ apl/, U.S. /ˈməŋki ˌæp(ə)l/, West African English /ˌmɔŋki ˈapul/ Any of various tropical trees and shrubs bearing fruit which resembles an apple or is regarded as fit (only) for monkeys; esp. Annona glabra (family Annonaceae), of tropical America and West Africa, and Anisophyllea laurina (family Anisophyllaceae), of West Africa; (also) the fruit of any of these trees.
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the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > yielding drug or narcotic > [noun] > alligator apple tree or fruit
monkey apple1750
alligator apple1756
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 tropical America > other American fruit-plants
guava1555
anchovy pear1657
river pear1696
sour-sop tree1696
monkey apple1750
stopper-berry tree1750
sour-sop1753
chocho1756
sweet plum1796
pequi1819
Spanish plum1823
jaboticaba1824
christophene1830
Quito orange1846
pepino1850
mountain mango1861
chayote1884
Suriname cherry1895
feijoa1898
choko1902
the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > non-British trees or shrubs > African trees or shrubs > [noun] > other African trees or shrubs
keurboom1731
silver-tree1731
witteboom1799
Hottentot's bean1801
melkhouta1823
monkey apple1824
witgatboom1824
Hottentot's bean tree1833
spek-boom1834
mopane1854
Welwitschia1862
ambatch1863
miombo1864
pith tree1864
porkwood1875
tree purslane1882
buffalo-horn1887
monkey guava1887
bush willow1917
melkboom1917
msasa1923
rooibos1932
miraa1945
ovangkol1972
pigeon wood1972
tambotie1973
1750 G. Hughes Nat. Hist. Barbados 129 The Monkey Apple-tree... The Fruit hath its Name from its being eaten by Monkeys.
1824 Trans. Hort. Soc. London 5 446 [Sierra Leone] Monkey Apple. Anisophyllea laurina.
1833 Penny Cycl. I. 187/1 The monkey apple (Anisophyllea laurina) the drupe of which is, in flavour and size, between a nectarine and a plum.
1857 A. Henfrey Elem. Course Bot. §427 Clusia flava is called the Wild Mango, or Monkey-apple, in Jamaica.
1890 Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia 1889 363 A[nona] palustris, L. Alligator Apple, Cork Wood, Monkey Apple.
1913 C. Pettman Africanderisms 323 Monkey apple. The fruit of Royena pubescens, W., is called by this name in Lower Albany.
1969 T. H. Everett Living Trees of World 169/2 Species [of Licania] used in central America for lumber are L. arborea and L. hypoleuca. There, too, the monkey-apple (L. platypus) is esteemed for its yellow juicy fruit.
1981 L. Valls What a Pistarckle! 82/1 Monkey Apple, fruit of the painkiller tree (Morinda citrifolia).
1993 S. Carrington Wild Plants of Barbados 33/2 Annona glabra L. Monkey Apple... As the name suggests the fruit is not considered good eating but is edible and used as pig food in Dominica.
1994 B. Gilroy Sunlight on Sweet Water 121 We knew where to find golden apples, genips and paddoo, and if the monkey-apples and cashews growing wild by the seaside were ripe enough to ‘knock’.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2002; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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