Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
🍑 A yellow fruit 🍑 A tart plum 🌳 A fruit tree
Japanese plum

Japanese plum

5.9
A small evergreen tree that makes fuzzy yellow fruit
  • noun
  • /ˈdʒæpəˌniːz plʌm/
translation icon : níspero
  • The Japanese plum thrives in subtropical gardens and is prized for its sweet, tangy fruit.

Examples

  • Her favorite dessert uses fresh Japanese plums picked straight from the tree.

  • We planted a Japanese plum in the backyard, and it bloomed beautifully this spring.

  • The Japanese plum tree thrives in warm climates.

  • I love the taste of Japanese plums in summer.

  • Her favorite dessert uses fresh Japanese plums picked straight from the tree.

  • We planted a Japanese plum in the backyard, and it bloomed beautifully this spring.

  • The Japanese plum thrives in subtropical gardens and is prized for its sweet, tangy fruit.

Synonyms

loquat
vsJapanese plum
1 9.1

An evergreen tree grown for its small yellow edible fruit

is the common everyday name for that same cultivated tree
Eriobotrya japonica
vsJapanese plum
  • Specialized
9.9

An evergreen tree that makes small fuzzy yellow fruit with a large stone called loquat

is the common name used for the same tree in everyday speech
loquat tree
vsJapanese plum
7.5

A small evergreen tree that grows in warm places and makes sweet, fuzzy yellow fruit with a large seed

is the broader cultivated tree known by its common name
Japanese medlar
vsJapanese plum
8.8

An evergreen tree with yellow, fuzzy fruit the size of an olive

is the more familiar common name for the same plant

Surface Forms

Japanese plum singular
Japanese plums plural

Morphology

Japanese + plum

The meaning 'a plum/tree associated with Japan' is directly and transparently derived from combining 'Japanese' (of or connected with Japan) and 'plum' (the fruit/tree). This is a regular adjective+noun composition indicating origin or type, so a B1 learner who knows both words will readily infer the MWE's meaning.

Etymology

Japanese plum names an evergreen tree from China and Japan, so imagine a glossy tree full of small, fuzzy yellow fruits that look like tiny plums. That's why the name means 'an evergreen tree native to China and Japan, grown in warm regions and producing small, fuzzy, yellow fruit with a large stone'.