breadfruit

American  

[bred-froot] / ˈbrɛdˌfrut /

noun

• breadfruits
  plural

1. a large, round, starchy fruit borne by a tree, Artocarpus altilis, of the mulberry family, native to the Pacific islands, used, baked or roasted, for food.

2. the tree bearing this fruit.

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breadfruit British  

/ ˈbrɛdˌfruːt /

noun

1. a moraceous tree, Artocarpus communis (or A. altilis ), of the Pacific Islands, having large round edible starchy usually seedless, fruit

2. the fruit of this tree, which is eaten baked or roasted and has a texture like bread

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• breadfruits
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of breadfruit

First recorded in 1690–1700; bread + fruit

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

breadfruit breadfruits

Breadnut and its cousin, breadfruit, were transplanted from the Pacific to the Caribbean to become food staples for enslaved populations there.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 3, 2026

The air above Palau's pristine waters smells of salt and breadfruit, and on calm mornings in Koror, Palau's commercial centre, the whirr of dive boat engines echoes across the bay.

From BBC ● Nov. 23, 2025

Nearshore fishing was good, but there were no breadfruit trees, no church, no school, and only one plywood structure to shield older islanders from the elements.

From Slate ● Jul. 22, 2025

In 1778, British explorer Capt. James Cook was welcomed when he anchored off the Hawaiian islands by locals eager to trade cuttlefish, breadfruit and pigs for nails and iron tools.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 19, 2023

Tree crops, notably bananas and breadfruit, also furnished carbohydrate-rich staples in Southeast Asia and New Guinea.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond

He has no idea, poor wretch, of the spiritual destitution of a coral reef in the Pacific, or what it costs to look up the precious souls among the cocoanuts and breadfruits.

From Dickens As an Educator by James L. (James Laughlin) Hughes

“If you don’t require my services,” said Brown, “I’ll go plant some breadfruits and other things at that sheltered spot we fell upon yesterday.”

From The Lonely Island The Refuge of the Mutineers by R. M. (Robert Michael) Ballantyne

In front of our house is a broad stretch of grass, dotted with cocoanuts, breadfruits, mangoes, and the strange pandanus tree.

From The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson - Swanston Edition Vol. 24 (of 25) by Robert Louis Stevenson

To the west, a swift cold river ran down, and beyond was the green of the village, dotted with cocoa-palms and breadfruits and houses.

From The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson - Swanston Edition Vol. 17 (of 25) by Robert Louis Stevenson

To the west, a swift cold river ran down, and beyond was the green of the village, dotted with cocoa-palms and breadfruits and houses. 

From Island Nights' Entertainments by Robert Louis Stevenson

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