Also spelled cocoa-nut and cocoanut

US /ˈkoʊ.kəˌnʌt/ UK /ˈkəʊ.kə.nʌt/
noun Freq #7059

Meanings

  1. 1
    noun

    The large brown fruit of the coconut palm, with a hard, hairy shell and sweet white flesh inside.

    He cracked open a coconut and drank the milk inside.

  2. 2
    noun

    The edible white flesh of this fruit, often dried and used in cooking.

    The cake was topped with shredded coconut.

  3. 3
    noun

    The tall tropical palm tree that bears coconuts.

    Rows of coconut palms lined the white beach.

Thesaurus

Synonyms
2 noun · the edible white flesh of... coconut meat
3 noun · the tall tropical palm tree... coconut palmcoconut tree
Word family
Forms cocococonuts
Derived forms bokococonanacoconuttycocovorejelly-coconut

Etymology

From coco + nut. In reference to assimilated Hispanic or black people, derived from the fruit's exotic origins. The slur originates from the idea that one is "brown on the outside, white on the inside". In reference to Polynesians, from the ubiquity of coconut palms in the area.

Topics

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