Word
Definition
n. a large, sweet fruit with a tough, prickly skin and a bunch of green leaves on top. It is yellow inside and very juicy.
n. a large tropical fruit with a tough, scaly exterior and sweet, fibrous yellow flesh. Refers to both the plant and the fruit itself.
Examples
“I bought a fresh pineapple for the fruit salad.”
“The chef grilled slices of pineapple to serve alongside the spicy pork tacos for a sweet contrast.”
“Historically a symbol of hospitality and wealth due to its rarity in temperate climates, the pineapple is now a staple of global agriculture, primarily cultivated in tropical regions.”
Examples
simple
“I bought a fresh pineapple for the fruit salad.”
contextual
“The chef grilled slices of pineapple to serve alongside the spicy pork tacos for a sweet contrast.”
complex
“Historically a symbol of hospitality and wealth due to its rarity in temperate climates, the pineapple is now a staple of global agriculture, primarily cultivated in tropical regions.”
Usage
Uncountable when referring to the food as a substance; countable when referring to the individual whole fruits.
Real-World Examples
“The soil beneath Oumarou Compaoré’s boots is sandy and stony. It’s hardly the lush setting usually needed to support growing pineapples.” “On a recent trip to Giant Eagle, my local grocery store in Pittsburgh, I noticed something new in the fruit section: a single pineapple packaged in a pink and forest-green box.” Etymology
From Middle English pinappel (“pinecone”, literally “pine-apple/pine-fruit”), from Proto-West Germanic *pīnapplu. Later applied to the fruit of the pineapple plant due to its resemblance to a pinecone. Compare the Middle Dutch and Dutch pijnappel (“pinecone", formerly also "pineapple”), Afrikaans pynappel (“pineapple”), Middle Low German pinappel, Old High German pīnapful, Middle High German pīnaphel, and early Modern German pinapfel — all in the sense of “pine cone”. Compare also the post-Classical Latin pomum pini, the Old French pume de pin, the Middle French and French pomme de pin and Spanish piña. By surface analysis, pine + apple. Sense "An Australian fifty dollar note": From the yellow colour of a $50 banknote in the first, second, and third series of rice Australian dollar notes. Compare with lobster for a $20 Australian banknote, and watermelon for a $100 Australian banknote.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Related words
- Exam level
- CambridgeCambridgeCambridge English QualificationsThe exam suite from Cambridge University Press & Assessment, from A1 Movers up to C2 Proficiency. The benchmark names double as CEFR labels.A1 MoversIELTSIELTSInternational English Language Testing SystemThe 0–9 band test co-owned by the British Council, IDP, and Cambridge. Used for university entry, work, and migration.2.0–3.0TOEFL iBTTOEFL iBTTest of English as a Foreign Language, Internet-Based TestETS's academic English test, the standard route for US university admissions. Scored 0–120, with a 1–6 scale since 2026.1–6 scale: 1.0–1.50–23TOEICTOEICTest of English for International CommunicationETS's workplace English test, big in Japan and Korea. Listening & Reading scores 10–990 and tops out at C1.120–224
- Frequency
- Frequent
- Level
- A1 · Beginner
- Updated
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QR code
englishreference.com/q/pineapple
「カタカナ語」 data: JMdict (EDRDG), CC BY-SA 4.0
‘외래어’ data: 한국어기초사전 (국립국어원), CC BY-SA 2.0 KR