papaya

See also: Papaya and papàyā

English

Unripe papaya fruits

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish papaya, from Lokono papáia. Doublet of pawpaw.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /pəˈpaɪ.ə/, /pəˈpɑː.jə/

  • Audio (UK):

    (file)

• Rhymes: -aɪə, -ɑːjə

Noun

papaya (plural papayas)

2. A tropical American evergreen tree, Carica papaya, having large, yellow, edible fruit.

   Synonym: pawpaw

4. The fruit of this tree.

   Synonym: pawpaw

   • 2019, Ocean Vuong, On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous, Jonathan Cape, page 135:

     It was that image, its practical mundanity, the preparation of fruit I have seen you do a thousand times, the spoon gliding along the papaya’s flesh-orange core, a slush of black seeds plopping into the steel sink, that made it unbearable.

5. An orange colour, like that of papaya flesh.

   papaya:  

Derived terms

• mountain papaya
• raw papaya
• yaya papaya

Translations

tree

• Basque: papaiondo
• Bikol:

  Central Bikol: tapayas (bcl)

• Bulgarian: папая f (papaja)
• Dutch: papajaboom, meloenboom m
• Finnish: papaija (fi)
• French: papayer (fr) m
• Gujarati: પપૈયું (papaiyũ)
• Hindi: पपीता (hi) m (papītā)
• Hunsrik: Mammongbaam m
• Ido: papayiero (io)
• Indonesian: pepaya (id)
• Isan: บักหุ่ง (bàk-hùng), หมากหุ่ง (màak-hùng)
• Javanese: ꦏꦠꦺꦱ꧀ (katès)
• Macedonian: папа́ја f (papája)
• Malay: betik, pepaya, kepaya
• Malayalam: കപ്ലം (kaplaṁ)
• Paicî: mâmîâpo
• Polish: papaja (pl) f
• Portuguese: mamoeiro (pt) m
• Russian: папа́йя (ru) f (papájja)
• Spanish: papayo (es) m, frutabomba f, papayero (es) m, lechoso (es) m
• Swahili: mpapai (sw) class 3/4
• Tamil: பப்பாளி (ta) (pappāḷi)
• Telugu: బొప్పాయిచెట్టు (te) (boppāyiceṭṭu)
• Thai:

  Central Thai: มะละกอ (th) (má-lá-gɔɔ)

  Northern Thai: บะก้วยเต๊ศ (bpa-gûai-dtêet)

  Southern Thai: ลอกอ (lɔɔ-gɔɔ)

• Turkish: papaya (tr)
• Vietnamese: cây đu đủ
• Welsh: papaia m

fruit

• Agta:

  Dupaningan Agta: kapaya

• Albanian: papaja f
• Arabic: بَابَايَا f (bābāyā)
• Armenian: պապայա (hy) (papaya)
• Assamese: অমিতা (omita)
• Bajau:

  West Coast Bajau: kepayas

• Balinese: gedang
• Bambara: manje
• Basque: papaia (eu)
• Belarusian: папа́я f (papája)
• Bengali: পেঁপে (bn) (pẽpe), কয়ফল (bn) (koẏfol)
• Bikol:

  Central Bikol: tapayas (bcl)

• Bulgarian: папа́я f (papája)
• Burmese: သင်္ဘောသီး (sangbhau:si:)
• Catalan: papaia f
• Chamicuro: ajpaya
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 木瓜 (muk⁶ gwaa¹)

  Hakka: 木瓜 (muk-kôa)

  Hokkien: 木瓜 (zh-min-nan) (bo̍k-kue), 萬壽匏 / 万寿匏 (bān-siū-pû), 番匏 (hoan-pû), 奶匏 (ni-pû, leng-pû)

  Mandarin: 番木瓜 (zh) (fānmùguā), 木瓜 (zh) (mùguā) (everyday term)

• Comorian:

  Ngazidja Comorian: pwapwai

• Czech: papája f
• Danish: papaja (da) c
• Dhivehi: ފަޅޯ (faḷō)
• Dutch: papaja (nl)
• Esperanto: papajo
• Estonian: papaia
• Ewe: aɖiba
• Fijian: weleti (fj), maoli, leweti (Lau), uto (fj) (Ba, Yasawa)
• Finnish: papaija (fi)
• French: papaye (fr) f
• Galician: mamá f
• Georgian: ნესვის ხე (nesvis xe)
• German: Papaya (de) f
• Greek: παπάγια (el) f (papágia)
• Gujarati: પપૈયું (papaiyũ)
• Hausa: gwanda
• Hawaiian: mīkana, milikana, hēʻī
• Hebrew: פָּפָּיָה/פפאיה (he) (papáya)
• Hindi: पपीता (hi) (papītā)
• Hunsrik: Mammong m
• Ido: papayo (io)
• Indonesian: pepaya (id), betik (id)
• Isan: บักหุ่ง (bàk-hùng), หมากหุ่ง (màak-hùng)
• Italian: papaia (it) f
• Jamaican Creole: papaw
• Japanese: パパイヤ (ja) (papaiya)
• Javanese: ꦏꦠꦺꦱ꧀ (katès), kates (jv)
• Kabuverdianu: papaia
• Kannada: ಪರಂಗಿ ಹಣ್ಣು (kn) (paraṅgi haṇṇu)
• Khmer: ផ្លែល្ហុង (phlae lhong), ល្ហុង (km) (lhong)
• Korean: 파파야 (ko) (papaya)
• Lao: ໝາກຫຸ່ງ (māk hung)
• Latvian: papaija f
• Lingala: payipáyi, paipái
• Lithuanian: papaja f
• Luganda: eppaapaali
• Lutuv: saaphaw
• Macedonian: папа́ја f (papája)
• Malagasy: voapaza (mg), papay (mg)
• Malay: betik, pepaya, kepaya
• Malayalam: കപ്ലങ്ങ (kaplaṅṅa)
• Māori: papaia
• Marathi: पपाया m (papāyā)
• Mauritian Creole: papay
• Melanau:

  Central Melanau: kepayaih

• Minangkabau: botik, kaliki
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: папайя (papajja)

• Murut:

  Tagal Murut: tapayas

• Nahuatl: ochonetli (nah)
• Navajo: hashkʼaan dootłʼizhí
• Nepali: मेवा (ne) (mewā)
• Niuean: loku, lotu
• Norwegian: papaya
• Occitan: papaia (oc) f
• Odia: ଅମୃତଭଣ୍ଡା (amrutabhaṇḍā)
• Pacoh: pahúng
• Persian: پاپایه (fa) (pâpâye)
• Polish: papaja (pl) f, melonowiec m
• Portuguese: (Brazil) mamão (pt), papaia (pt)
• Punjabi: ਪਪੀਤਾ (pa) (papītā)

  Western Punjabi: پپیتا (ppetā)

• Rarotongan: ngingitā
• Réunion Creole French: papay
• Romanian: papaia (ro) f
• Russian: папа́йя (ru) f (papájja)
• Samoan: ʻesi
• Sinhalese: පැපොල් (pæpol) ගස්ලබු (si) (gaslabu, literally “tree melon”)
• Slovak: papája f
• Slovene: papaja f
• Spanish: papaya (es) f, frutabomba f (Cuban standard usage - Eastern Cuba: papaya), lechosa (es) f (Dominican Republic, Eastern Central Colombia and Llanos, Venezuela - Colombia standard usage: papaya), mamón (es) m (Argentina, Paraguay), put (es) m
• Sundanese: ᮌᮨᮓᮀ (gedang), gedang (su), kates
• Swahili: papai (sw), papayu
• Swedish: papaya (sv) c
• Tagalog: papaya (tl)
• Tahitian: ʻiʻitā, ninita
• Tamil: பப்பாளி (ta) (pappāḷi)
• Telugu: బొప్పాయి పండు (te) (boppāyi paṇḍu)
• Thai:

  Central Thai: มะละกอ (th) (má-lá-gɔɔ)

  Northern Thai: บะก้วยเต๊ศ (bpa-gûai-dtêet)

  Southern Thai: ลอกอ (lɔɔ-gɔɔ)

• Tibetan: སེ་ཡབ (se yab)
• Tigrinya: ፓፓያ (papaya)
• Tongan: lesi
• Turkish: papaya (tr)
• Ukrainian: папа́йя f (papájja)
• Urdu: پپیتا (papītā)
• Uyghur: كۇلى بېھىسى (kuli bëhisi)
• Vietnamese: đu đủ (vi), thù đủ
• Welsh: papaia m
• Wolof: pàppaaya
• Yoruba: ìbẹ́pẹ, dẹ̀dẹ̀rẹ̀kún, ògòlòmọ̀ṣí, ògùdùgbẹ̀, gbẹ̀gbẹ̀rẹ̀

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Efik: ^{(please verify)} pawpaw
• Ibibio: ^{(please verify)} pawpaw

See also

• papain

Further reading

• papaya on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Central Bikol

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish papaya, from Lokono papáia.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /paˈpaja/ [paˈpa.ja]
• Hyphenation: pa‧pa‧ya

Noun

papáya (Basahan spelling ᜉᜉᜌ)

1. papaya

   Synonym: tapayas

Chavacano

Etymology

Inherited from Spanish papaya, from Lokono papáia.

Pronunciation

• Hyphenation: pa‧pa‧ya

Noun

papaya

1. papaya

Eastern Bontoc

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish papaya, from Lokono papáia.

Noun

papaya

1. papaya

Karao

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish papaya, from Lokono papáia.

Noun

papaya

1. papaya

Spanish

A papaya sliced lengthwise.

Alternative forms

• papayón, papayo

Etymology

From Cariban/Lokono papáia.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /paˈpaʝa/ [paˈpa.ʝa]

• IPA^(key): /paˈpaʝa/ [paˈpa.ʝa] (everywhere but Pampas and southern Argentina, Uruguay, northern Mexico, Yucatán and Central America (except Panama))
• IPA^(key): /paˈpaʃa/ [paˈpa.ʃa] (Buenos Aires and environs)
• IPA^(key): /paˈpaʒa/ [paˈpa.ʒa] (elsewhere in Pampas and southern Argentina, Uruguay)
• IPA^(key): /paˈpaja/ [paˈpa.ja] (northern Mexico, Yucatán, Central America (except Panama))

• Audio (Peru):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aʝa
• Syllabification: pa‧pa‧ya

Noun

papaya f (plural papayas)

1. papaya (fruit)

   Synonyms: lechoza, (Venezuela, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Argentina, Paraguay) lechosa, mamón, fruta bomba

   Jugo de papaya.

   Papaya juice.

2. (Cuba, slang, vulgar) vulva (likely from the shape of the fruit when sliced in half lengthwise: see image)

   Synonyms: coño, concha, (not vulgar) vagina, (not vulgar) vulva, chucha, papo

   No importa si te duele la papaya.

   It doesn't matter if your cunt hurts.

3. (Colombia, slang) opportunity

Usage notes

• Cubans typically call the papaya fruit fruta bomba instead, reserving the word papaya for its vulgar sense.

Adjective

papaya m or f (masculine and feminine plural papayas)

1. (Chile, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela, slang) easy

   Synonym: fácil

Descendants

Descendants

• > Chavacano: papaya (inherited)
• → English: papaya
• → English: pawpaw
• → Karao: papaya
• → Macedonian: папаја (papaja)
• → Russian: папайя (papajja)
• → Swahili: papai
• → Tagalog: papaya
• → Tetelcingo Nahuatl: papöya
• → Zacatepec Chatino: papàyā

Further reading

• “papaya”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025
• “papaya”, in Diccionario de americanismos [Dictionary of Americanisms] (in Spanish), Association of Academies of the Spanish Language [Spanish: Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española], 2010
• DiPerú | Diccionario de peruanismos en línea

Swedish

Noun

papaya c

1. papaya (fruit and tree)

Declension

Declension of papaya

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	papaya	papayas
	definite	papayan	papayans
plural	indefinite	papayor	papayors
	definite	papayorna	papayornas

References

• “papaya”, in Svensk ordbok [Dictionary of Swedish] (in Swedish)
• “papaya”, in Svenska Akademiens ordlista [Wordlist of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)
• “papaya”, in Svenska Akademiens ordbok [Dictionary of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)

Tagalog

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish papaya, from Lokono papáia. Compare Pangasinan apayas and Kapampangan kapaya.

Pronunciation

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /paˈpaja/ [pɐˈpaː.jɐ]
• Rhymes: -aja
• Syllabification: pa‧pa‧ya

Noun

papaya (Baybayin spelling ᜉᜉᜌ)

1. papaya

Derived terms

• papayahan
• pinapayahan

Anagrams

• payapa

Turkish

Noun

papaya

1. accusative singular of papa

Western Huasteca Nahuatl

Noun

papaya

1. papaya.