Chinese date
- noun
- /ˈtʃaɪniːz deɪt/
:
dátil chino
- The Chinese date is often dried and used in traditional Asian desserts.
Examples
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If this giant Raisin like fruit looks familiar, then you probably know that we are talking about the Jujube or Jujubee tree, also known as Chinese date or red date.
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In Chinese medicine, the date is believed to help improve digestion and boost energy.
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She added a few fresh dates to the fruit salad for extra sweetness.
Synonyms
A dark red fruit like a plum with sweet flesh often eaten fresh or dried
A small dark red fruit like a plum that grows on an Asian tree
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase is compositionally built from the adjective 'Chinese' and the noun 'date', so a B1 learner who knows both words will reasonably infer it denotes a type of date/fruit associated with China. Although botanical specifics (that it refers to the jujube rather than the common date palm) may not be known, the general sense 'a Chinese fruit called a date' is directly derivable from the constituents.
Etymology
The noun Chinese date may come from a simple comparison: dried 'jujube' fruits look like small 'dates' and were used like dates in cooking and sweets. So people began to call the jujube the 'Chinese date'.
