breadfruit
Americannoun
-
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.
-
the tree bearing this fruit.
noun
-
a moraceous tree, Artocarpus communis (or A. altilis ), of the Pacific Islands, having large round edible starchy usually seedless, fruit
-
the fruit of this tree, which is eaten baked or roasted and has a texture like bread
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of breadfruit
Vocabulary lists containing breadfruit
Pacific Islands - Introductory
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Pacific Islands - Middle School and High School
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
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
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
The Asante exiles in Seychelles lived in "Ashanti Town", on an old sugar plantation, Le Rocher, on the main island Mahé, overlooking the ocean and surrounded by coconut, mango, breadfruit, orange and jackfruit trees.
From BBC ● Nov. 26, 2024
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
Ugwu was watching the children running around the breadfruit tree, taunting and shouting, when Nnesinachi arrived with a baby on her hip and a sparkle in her eyes.
From "Half of a Yellow Sun" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
I have walked in one, with equal admiration and surprise, through a forest of huge breadfruits, eating bananas and stumbling among taro as I went.
From The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson - Swanston Edition Vol. 18 (of 25) by Stevenson, Robert Louis
It is in the counting of breadfruit only,202 4 breadfruits = 1 pona = 4.
From The Number Concept Its Origin and Development by Conant, Levi Leonard
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 Stevenson, Robert Louis
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 Stevenson, Robert Louis
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 Hughes, James L. (James Laughlin)
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
