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pawpaw

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
See also: paw-paw

English

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Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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Asimina triloba fruit

Via Portuguese and Spanish papaya (which is botanically unrelated) from Lokono papáia; compare also Kari'na kapaja. Doublet of papaya.

Alternatively from Yuchi pahpah.[1]

Alternative forms

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Noun

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pawpaw (plural pawpaws)

  1. Any of several types of trees having edible fruit:
    1. Asimina, a genus of trees and shrubs native to eastern North America, especially common pawpaw (Asimina triloba).
    2. Papaya (Carica papaya), a widely cultivated tropical fruit tree.
    3. Mountain pawpaw (Vasconcellea pubescens), a fruit tree native to South America.
  2. The fruit of these trees.
    Synonyms: bandango, custard apple, hillbilly mango, prairie banana
    • [2015, Andrew Moore, Pawpaw: In Search of America’s Forgotten Fruit, Chelsea Green Publishing, →ISBN, page 1:
      Throughout the years it's gone by a lot of names—frost banana, Indiana banana, fetid-bush, bandango, custard apple, prairie banana, poor man's banana—but most of the time it's just been called pawpaw. At first glance, both the fruit and the tree seem out of place in North America.]
    • 2021, Leone Ross, This One Sky Day, Faber & Faber Limited, page 254:
      Xavier sliced the pawpaw in half, emptying the tiny black seeds over the veranda wall.
    • 2023 September 29, Molly Fitzpatrick, “He’s the Pawpaw King of Brooklyn. (What’s a Pawpaw?)”, in The New York Times‎[2], →ISSN:
      If there were such a thing as an anticapitalist fruit, the pawpaw, commonly foraged in the wild and inherently resistant to commodification, might qualify.
Translations
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Further reading
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Etymology 2

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Related to papa, or pa(w) pa(w) (one’s father’s father).

Alternative forms

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Noun

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pawpaw (plural pawpaws)

  1. (dialectal or colloquial) Grandfather.
Usage notes
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  • Often used as a term of address and hence capitalized, as Pawpaw or PawPaw (or in other spellings, e.g. Paw Paw).
Synonyms
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See also

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References

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  1. ^ David K. Hackett (Woktela) (10 June 2011), “Etymology of Woodpecker in Yuchean (yuchilanguage.indd)”, in BTB Presents Selected History of the Yuchi People‎[1], Aztech/Yuchi National Archive, pages 18–19 or 48–49:
    Morphemes of importance here are derived from [...], papaha (popping sound), [...] As a further side note: The term pawpaw for the tree and its fruit has been widely ascribed to the Spanish as derived from papaya. I would disagree in part. While this may indeed play a role in its acceptance, I would assert that the term comes from the Yuchi who call this tree pahpah, and that it was accepted because of the Spanish familiarity with the papaya. Pawpaws make a loud popping noise when stepped on or crushed. A Yuchi village near the southwest side of Oak Ridge, Tennessee appears on old maps as Pawpaw town.

Tagalog

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Pronunciation

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Adjective

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pawpáw (Baybayin spelling ᜉᜏ᜔ᜉᜏ᜔)

  1. level to the brim; smooth on top
    Synonym: pantay-labi

Further reading

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  • “pawpaw”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph, Manila, 2018.
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