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.

---

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

---

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• breadfruits
  plural

---

Etymology

Origin of breadfruit

First recorded in 1690–1700; bread + fruit

---

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

breadfruit breadfruits

In “The Caribbean Cookbook,” the starch is either rice or “ground provisions,” the Anglophone term for yams, sweet potatoes, plantains, breadfruit and other staples.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 17, 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

She sat on a stump under the breadfruit tree, her back to me.

From "When I Was Puerto Rican" by Esmeralda Santiago

And beyond the reef and beyond the blue, nestling among cocoanut trees and bananas, umbrella trees and breadfruits, oranges, mangoes, hibiscus, algaroba, and passion-flowers, almost hidden in the deep, dense greenery, was Honolulu. 

From The Hawaiian Archipelago by Isabella L. (Isabella Lucy) Bird

“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

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

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 Island Nights' Entertainments by Robert Louis Stevenson

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---