papaya tree
- noun
- /pəˈpaɪə trē/
:
papayo
- The green papaya tree sways in the wind as five-year-old Su-In chants to the rhythms of a pebble game with her friends.
Examples
-
He had two papaya trees, a guava, a custard apple, and a jackfruit tree.
Fiction book (1995) -
Now, more than 80% of Hawaiian papaya trees are immune to ringspot.
Academic text (2012) -
I took the path through the papaya trees and watched the big red bird settle onto the grass.
Fiction book (1999) -
A big, ugly toad sat under the papaya tree.
Fiction book (2002) -
Papaya trees are remarkably precocious.
Academic text (2004) -
When its sound had died away and the night was quiet, I went downhill and through the rain-wet papaya trees to the cottage.
Fiction book (1999) -
Russ sent Casey to explore the beach, and then he and I took the path to the cottage under papaya trees hung heavy with unripe fruit.
Fiction book (1999) -
The papaya tree in my backyard produces delicious fruit every summer.
-
We planted several papaya trees to create a mini tropical garden.
-
The tall papaya tree provided shade during our picnic in the sun.
Synonyms
3
1.8
A tropical tree with large lobed leaves that grows sweet orange fruit
A tropical small tree with large yellow fruit called papaya
A tropical tree that produces large sweet yellow fruit
A small tropical tree that grows papayas
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a tree that bears papayas' is directly and compositionally derived from combining 'papaya' (the fruit/tree name) with 'tree' (a plant), so the overall sense is immediately predictable. This noun+noun compound pattern is common across languages, making it transparent for a B1 learner who knows both constituents.
Etymology
Papaya tree may come from the local word papaya, which people in the Caribbean used for the sweet, orange fruit. When European visitors used that same name for the plant, it became the papaya tree, so the name simply tells you it is the tree that makes papaya fruit.