chinaberry tree

8.2

A tree with purple flowers and small yellow fruit you cannot eat, often used for shade

noun
/ˈtʃaɪnəˌbɛri tri/

: árbol de chinaberry

The children played under the cool shade of the chinaberry tree in the backyard.

Examples

On hot summer days, the chinaberry tree provides a welcome escape from the sun.
So I walked out and I got under the Chinaberry tree.

Personal Problems (1980)
The morning shade under the chinaberry tree held the same quality as the light: brittle and arrogant.

Fiction book (1997)
José: Across from her house there were some chinaberry trees, you see.

Fiction book (1992)
The oily glass of water, tossed at the heat-drunk dog beneath the chinaberry tree, is no substitute for tears.

Fiction book (1992)
And the dog, who smolders beneath the chinaberry tree, and then flames briefly and gloriously into the night, is no more and no less bright than the sun, the moon, and the woman waiting alone through the shabby night.

Fiction book (1992)
We enjoyed our picnic beneath a large chinaberry tree that bloomed with purple flowers.

Synonyms

chinaberry

vschinaberry tree

1 9.6

A tree with small yellow berries and broad leaves that gives shade

is native to northern India and China and planted in the southern United States

Melia azederach

vschinaberry tree

Specialized

9.9

A tree that loses its leaves with purple flowers and small yellow fruits often grown for shade

is the common everyday name for the same tree

China tree

vschinaberry tree

7.9

A tree that loses its leaves and has purple flowers and small yellow fruit grown for shade

is an alternative common name for the same tree

Melia azedarach

vschinaberry tree

Specialized

9.9

A tree with purple flowers and small yellow fruits that are not edible, grown for shade in warm places

is used mainly for trees in the southern US rather than broadly

azedarach

vschinaberry tree

9.9

A tree with purple flowers and yellow inedible fruit used for shade

is used mainly for trees in the southern US, not broadly

Surface Forms

chinaberry tree singular

chinaberry trees plural

Morphology

chinaberry + tree

The phrase is fully compositional: 'chinaberry' names a specific plant and adding 'tree' simply indicates that it is that plant in arboreal form. A B1 learner who knows the constituents ('chinaberry' = a particular plant; 'tree' = tall perennial plant) can derive the meaning without prior exposure, and noun + tree naming is cross-linguistically common.

Etymology

The noun chinaberry tree gets its name from two simple facts: the tree came from China and it makes many small yellow berries. That's why the name means a tree from Asia with round fruits that look like berries and that people often plant for shade.