coco plum
- noun
- /ˈkoʊkoʊ plʌm/
- US
:
ciruela de coco
- She made a delicious jam from fresh coco plums picked this morning.
Examples
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The coco plum is often found along coastal areas in the Caribbean.
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The coco plum tree thrives in warm climates.
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The leaves and fruit of the coco plum are used in local herbal remedies.
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I love the taste of coco plums in summer.
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I love to eat coco plums after picking them fresh from the tree.
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The coco plum tree produces sweet fruit that is enjoyed by many local animals.
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In warm coastal regions, the coco plum provides a unique flavor to local cuisines.
Synonyms
A small tropical tree from the Americas that has fruit like a plum
A small tropical tree that makes edible fruit like small plums
A small tropical tree that makes sweet fruit like plums near the coast
A tropical American shrub or small tree with edible fruit like a plum used in jams and desserts
Surface Forms
Morphology
coco + plum
The presence of 'plum' clearly signals a fruit/tree sense so a learner would infer it names a kind of fruit or fruit-bearing tree, but 'coco' is not a standard English lexical item here (and is listed as not found), making the modifier ambiguous. Because the expression refers to a specific tropical species and the role of 'coco' is not fully predictable from its constituents, a learner would only partially infer the meaning (plum-like tropical fruit) rather than the exact botanical referent.
Etymology
Coco plum for the tree comes from the fruit it makes: people used coco to suggest the coastal 'coconut' idea and plum to show the small, round fruit. That's why coco plum can mean both the edible 'fruit' and the 'tree' that bears it.
