Coconuts

/ˈkoʊkənʌts/ noun

Definition

Large brown fruits from coconut palm trees with hard shells containing white meat and liquid, widely used in cooking and for oil.

Etymology

From Portuguese 'coco,' possibly from a Dravidian language of India meaning 'coconut tree,' or from Portuguese sailors seeing the three eye-like markings and calling it 'ghost-face.' The word traveled globally with trade.

Kelly Says

Coconuts are so perfectly adapted to ocean travel—their giant waterproof shell and buoyancy—that scientists believe they may have naturally dispersed across oceans before humans ever used them, colonizing islands all on their own.

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