Definitions

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

  • noun A tree (Diospyros kaki) native to China, widely cultivated for its large edible fruit, having orange to reddish skin, orange flesh, and an enlarged, persistent calyx.
  • noun The fruit of this tree.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The persimmon of Japan, or Chinese date, Diospyros Kaki, or its fruit.

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

  • noun A persimmon.
  • adjective Alternative spelling of khaki.

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

  • noun small deciduous Asiatic tree bearing large red or orange edible astringent fruit
  • noun blackish stilt of New Zealand sometimes considered a color phase of the white-headed stilt

Etymologies

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

[Japanese.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Japanese  (kaki, "persimmon").

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Examples

  • There is an exquisite Japanese iris-flower, of rainbow-violet colour, which flower is named kaki - tsubata; and there is a song about that flower called kaki-tsubata-no - uta.

    Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan First Series Lafcadio Hearn 1877

  • Japanese restaurant or izakaya, I would always order a dish of fried appetizer and my favorite is deep-fried oysters or panko-crusted oysters. is called kaki fry or kaki furai, and those two words are probably the first few

    SARA - Southeast Asian RSS Aggregator 2010

  • (simple open-air eateries) and mobile food carts called kaki lima, which literally translates as "five feet" -- it refers to the sum of the vendor's two feet and the cart's three (two wheels in the front and one supporting leg in the rear).

    The Dish: Gado-Gado 2008

  • Ai, I was surprised to see called 'kaki' on the label.

    twelve22 2009

  • As I understand it, only Japanese persimmons (the most common variety) are called kaki.

    Taste Test: Persimmon - Boing Boing 2009

  • They sell them here in London on Portobello Market, near me and I seem to remember seeing them lots of other places (Sainsburys, Tescos), never as persimmon, they're called sharon fruit or kaki fruit.

    Taste Test: Persimmon - Boing Boing 2009

  • So now I have a need for a dessert recipe for the french squash (courge) or persimmon (kaki) that I could see everywhere.

    liaison - French Word-A-Day 2009

  • We use to eat when the fruits got really soft and sometimes we eat kaki with Williams liqueur (I love it)!!! maralenenok

    Taste Test: Persimmon - Boing Boing 2009

  • Persimmon is called kaki in Japanese, and it has been constantly battling against mangoes for first place on my list of favorite fruits.

    Taste Test: Persimmon - Boing Boing 2009

  • Likewise the lad in kaki gear is just a lad from over here.

    Tony Blair: The Next Labour Prime Minister? 2010

Comments

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  • (n): persimmon

    January 7, 2009