Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A thorny deciduous small tree or shrub (Ziziphus jujuba) native to Asia, widely cultivated for its edible fruit.
  • noun The small sweet greenish to red fruit of this tree.
  • noun Any of various other trees or shrubs of the genus Ziziphus bearing edible fruit.
  • noun A fruit-flavored candy or lozenge.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The name of several species of plants of the genus Zizyphus.
  • noun The edible fruit of these plants.
  • noun A confection made of gum arabic or gelatin, sweetened and flavored so as to resemble the jujube-fruit. Also called jujube paste, a name originally applied to a jelly made from the jujube.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun The sweet and edible drupes (fruits) of several Mediterranean and African species of small trees, of the genus Zizyphus, especially the Zizyphus jujuba, Zizyphus vulgaris, Zizyphus mucronata, and Zizyphus Lotus. The last named is thought to have furnished the lotus of the ancient Libyan Lotophagi, or lotus eaters.
  • noun A chewy gelatinous lozenge made of or in imitation of, or flavored with, the jujube fruit.
  • noun the dried or inspissated jelly of the jujube; also, a confection made of gum arabic sweetened.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun The sweet and edible drupes (fruits) of several Mediterranean and African species of small trees.
  • noun a fruit-bearing tree, Ziziphus zizyphus
  • noun The fruit of this tree, also known as Chinese date and fructus jujubae
  • noun North America A type of candy; specific type varies by country.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun chewy fruit-flavored jellied candy (sometimes medicated to soothe a sore throat)
  • noun spiny tree having dark red edible fruits
  • noun dark red plumlike fruit of Old World buckthorn trees

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English, jujube fruit, from Old French, from Medieval Latin jujuba, from Latin zizyphum, from Greek zizuphon.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Ancient Greek ζίζυφον (zizuphon).

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Examples

  • The jujube is a fruit -- but a most remarkable one.

    Three Acres and Liberty Bolton Hall 1896

  • Do not confuse this with the Chinese jujube which is hardy even into the Ohio valley in the USA but will not do well in warm climates like southern Florida.

    4: Multipurpose trees 1996

  • "But I thought the jujube was a fruit, like an apple.

    Three Acres and Liberty Bolton Hall 1896

  • Those red jujube like things in that one dish are probably goji berries.

    NJ Dining: Petite Soochow (UPDATED) 2010

  • References: le portail (m) = gate; le périple (m) = tour, journey; un arbre (m) = tree; c'est un jujubier = it's a jujube tree

    arbre - French Word-A-Day 2007

  • References: le portail (m) = gate; le périple (m) = tour, journey; un arbre (m) = tree; c'est un jujubier = it's a jujube tree

    French Word-A-Day: 2007

  • The Corsican steadied herself with her broom, bent down and picked up a jujube.

    French Word-A-Day: 2007

  • The Corsican steadied herself with her broom, bent down and picked up a jujube.

    French Word-A-Day: 2007

  • References: le portail (m) = gate; le périple (m) = tour, journey; un arbre (m) = tree; c'est un jujubier = it's a jujube tree

    French Word-A-Day: 2007

  • The Corsican steadied herself with her broom, bent down and picked up a jujube.

    arbre - French Word-A-Day 2007

Comments

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  • Etymonline takes the etymology back a step further, with the Greek zizyphon from the Persian zayzafun. Which sounds like fun!

    June 7, 2022