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Glite Dictionary
Ceylon gooseberry

Ceylon gooseberry

8.0
A small spiny tree from Sri Lanka and India that has purple fruit with sweet, tart flesh
  • noun
translation icon : grosella de Ceylán
  • The Ceylon gooseberry is prized for its tart, purple fruit, often eaten fresh or made into jam.

Examples

  • Locals in Sri Lanka use Ceylon gooseberry fruit to prepare traditional desserts and drinks.

  • She decided to plant a Ceylon gooseberry in her garden for its attractive foliage and nutritious berries.

  • The Ceylon gooseberry tree thrives in tropical climates.

  • I love the taste of Ceylon gooseberries in desserts.

  • Locals in Sri Lanka use Ceylon gooseberry fruit to prepare traditional desserts and drinks.

  • The Ceylon gooseberry is prized for its tart, purple fruit, often eaten fresh or made into jam.

  • She decided to plant a Ceylon gooseberry in her garden for its attractive foliage and nutritious berries.

Synonyms

Dovyalis hebecarpa
vsCeylon gooseberry
  • Specialized
9.9

A small spiny shrub from India and Sri Lanka that produces dark red, tart fruit like a gooseberry

focuses on sweet maroon purple pulp resembling gooseberries rather than just flavor
kitambilla
vsCeylon gooseberry
  • Indian
9.9

A small spiny tree from India and Sri Lanka that has dark purple fruit with sweet tart pulp

focuses more on the fruit pulp and its sweet gooseberry like quality
kitembilla
vsCeylon gooseberry
  • Indian
9.9

A small spiny shrub that grows in India and Sri Lanka and has dark purple fruit

highlights the plant as a small shrubby spiny tree cultivated for its fruit
ketembilla
vsCeylon gooseberry
  • Indian
9.9

A small spiny shrub grown in India and Sri Lanka that produces maroon-purple fruit

presents it as a small shrubby tree cultivated for sweet gooseberry like pulp
ketembilla tree
vsCeylon gooseberry
  • Indian
9.9

A small spiny shrub that makes sweet purple berries like gooseberries

emphasizes the same plant as a small shrubby tree cultivated for sweet pulp

Surface Forms

Ceylon gooseberry singular
Ceylon gooseberries plural

Morphology

Ceylon + gooseberry

The compound is transparently composed of the place-name 'Ceylon' (Sri Lanka) plus the noun 'gooseberry', so its meaning as a variety or species of gooseberry associated with Ceylon/Sri Lanka is directly inferable. Place-name + food/plant constructions are common cross-linguistically, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents would readily understand this MWE.

Etymology

Ceylon gooseberry gets its name from two simple ideas: Ceylon was the old name for 'Sri Lanka' and gooseberry shows that the fruit looks small and tart like a gooseberry. So the name helps you remember it is a small, bushy tree with sour, purple berries from Sri Lanka.