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coffee tree

coffee tree

1 3.2
A small tropical tree that grows red cherries containing beans used to make a hot drink
  • noun
  • /ˈkɔːfi tri/
translation icon : árbol de café
  • Many farmers cultivate coffee trees in tropical regions, as they thrive in warm climates with plenty of sunlight.
  • Kentucky coffee tree

Examples

  • The study from the Royal Botanical Gardens in Kew, United Kingdom, suggests that Arabica coffee trees could go extinct.

    Blog text (19)
  • Contrary to belief, coffee trees love full sun.

  • The coffee trees are filled with beans, just starting to ripen.

    Blog text (2)
  • We pruned the coffee trees and put fallen leaves and twigs around the coffee stems.

    Fiction book (2001)
  • They use no tractors, no mechanical harvesters, and no fancy machinery to tend their coffee trees.

    Academic text (1997)
  • As the coffee trees flourished, and after the sale of the first coffee harvest, the flow of young men to coastal plantations slowed to a trickle, and the local population began to grow.

    Academic text (1991)
  • While walking through the plantation, we admired the tall, green coffee trees that provide the beans for our favorite drink.

  • The coffee tree, known for its aromatic beans, requires careful maintenance to produce high-quality coffee.

Synonyms

coffee
vscoffee tree
55 1.0

A tropical shrub or small tree that produces seeds used for a hot drink

is the general small cultivated plant term rather than a species list
Coffea
vscoffee tree
  • Specialized
8.4

A tropical plant like a small tree that produces coffee beans

refers to an individual small cultivated plant rather than the whole genus

Surface Forms

coffee tree singular
coffee trees plural

Morphology

coffee + tree

The meaning 'a small tropical tree cultivated for its seeds (coffee beans)' is directly derivable from combining 'coffee' (the Coffea plant or its product) with 'tree' (a perennial woody plant). This noun–noun composition denotes a tree that produces coffee and is a common, cross-linguistically transparent construction that a B1 learner who knows both words would readily understand.

Etymology

The name coffee tree comes from the simple image of a tree that grows coffee beans. These small trees bear red cherries whose seeds are the beans we roast for coffee, so the name means 'the plant that produces coffee beans'.