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

Etymology

Origin of breadfruit

First recorded in 1690–1700; bread + fruit

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

Later, Ugwu sat with Anulika under the breadfruit tree.

From "Half of a Yellow Sun" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

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 Bird, Isabella L. (Isabella Lucy)

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

The natives were now coming up by dozens at a time, bringing with them, in great arm-loads, fallen cocoanuts and breadfruits, and branches of bananas, and large draggled clusters of half-ripe plantains.

From The Great Taboo by Allen, Grant

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 Stevenson, Robert Louis

A little back from the breach, and not half a mile from Anaho, I was the more amazed to find a cluster of well-doing breadfruits heavy with their harvest.

From The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson - Swanston Edition Vol. 18 (of 25) by Stevenson, Robert Louis