loquat

American  

[loh-kwot, -kwat] / ˈloʊ kwɒt, -kwæt /

noun

1. a small evergreen tree, Eriobotrya japonica, native to China and Japan, cultivated as an ornamental and for its yellow, plumlike fruit.

2. the fruit itself.

---

loquat British  

/ -kwət, ˈləʊkwɒt /

noun

1. an ornamental evergreen rosaceous tree, Eriobotrya japonica, of China and Japan, having reddish woolly branches, white flowers, and small yellow edible plumlike fruits

2. the fruit of this tree

---

Etymology

Origin of loquat

1810–20; < dialectal Chinese (Guangdong) lōkwat, akin to Chinese lújú

Example Sentences

In the rear open kitchen, Manon Fleury turned humble winter produce into memorable dishes: Fried sweet-potato threads mimicked a mini funnel cake, dabbed with loquat jam.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 14, 2026

Though Rincon doesn’t care for the loquat tree that grows in a corner of the property, she keeps watering it because her neighbors love the fruit.

From Los Angeles Times • May 5, 2023

He visits rare fruit growers at their homes, and has a rare-fruit garden of his own with mango, banana, loquat, peach and citron trees.

From New York Times • Feb. 28, 2022

Try making loquat jam this way, or experiment with mixing in other stone fruits to make your own unique blends.

From Salon • Feb. 24, 2021

On the south end of the garden, in the shadows of a loquat tree, was the servants’ home, a modest little mud hut where Has- san lived with his father.

From "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini