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.

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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

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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

And then, on my way to the shoot, I saw a loquat tree that had ripe fruit on it.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 21, 2025

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

After sampling my first loquat, I began to brainstorm ways to use my newly-discovered foraged fruit in the kitchen.

From Salon • Feb. 24, 2021

We woke up one morning to find a hole in the ground where our loquat tree had stood.

From "The Woman Warrior" by Maxine Hong Kingston