zapote, n.

zapote
http://www.oed.com/dictionary/zapote_n%3Ftab%3Dmeaning_and_use
First published 1986; not fully revised

# zapotenoun

## Earlier version

- zapote in OED Second Edition (1989)

## Factsheet

### What does the noun zapote mean?

There is one meaning in OED's entry for the noun zapote. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definition, usage, and quotation evidence.

#### Entry status

OED is undergoing a continuous programme of revision to modernize and improve definitions. This entry has not yet been fully revised.

### How common is the noun zapote?

About 0.02occurrences per million words in modern written English

1840 | 0.015
1850 | 0.018
1860 | 0.019
1870 | 0.019
1880 | 0.021
1890 | 0.022
1900 | 0.027
1910 | 0.031
1920 | 0.033
1930 | 0.034
1940 | 0.035
1950 | 0.034
1960 | 0.032
1970 | 0.029
1980 | 0.023
1990 | 0.019
2000 | 0.017
2010 | 0.015

### How is the noun zapote pronounced?

#### British English

/zəˈpəʊteɪ/

### Where does the noun zapote come from?

Earliest known use

1840s

The earliest known use of the noun zapote is in the 1840s.

OED's earliest evidence for zapote is from 1842, in the writing of S. Maverick.

zapote is a borrowing from Spanish.

### Nearby entries

1. Zanzibari, n. & adj. 1882–
2. zap, n. 1968–
3. zap, v. 1942–
4. zap, int. 1929–
5. Zapata, n. 1962–
6. zapateado, n. 1845–
7. Zapatism, n. 1911–
8. Zapatismo, n. 1913–
9. Zapatist, n. & adj. 1911–
10. Zapatista, n. & adj. 1911–
11. zapote, n.1842–
12. Zapotec, n. & adj. 1797–
13. zappe, v. c1600
14. zapped, adj. 1962–
15. zapper, n. 1969–
16. zapping, n. 1972–
17. zappy, adj. 1969–
18. zaptieh, n. 1869–
19. ZAPU, n. 1961–
20. Zar, n. 1868–
21. Zarathustrian, adj. & n. 1859–

## Etymology

### Summary

A borrowing from Spanish.
< Spanish: see sapota n.

## Meaning & use

1. 1842–
   = sapota n.
   1. 1842

      > Fruit—oranges, Zapotes, etc.

      S. Maverick, Journal 16 December (1953) ix. 185
   2. 1909

      > The Zapote..should secure the appreciation of the English fruitarian.

      Chambers's Journal August 557/2
   3. 1926

      > A big basket piled with mangoes, papayas, zapotes—all the tropical fruits one did not want, in hot weather.

      D. H. Lawrence, Plumed Serpent xiv. 229
   4. 1948

      > Fruit trees include the fig,..white and black zapotes.

      G. M. Foster, Empire's Children 27/2
   plants
   1. tamarind 1539–
      The fruit of the tree Tamarindus indica (see 2), a brown pod containing one to twelve seeds embedded in a soft brown or reddish-black acid pulp…
   2. zizypha 1546–1775
      The fruit of the zizyphus; = jujube, n. 1a. Also: a zizyphus tree or bush (= jujube, n. 1b).
   3. guava 1555–
      The fruit of the guava-tree.
   4. tuna 1555–
      = Indian fig, n. 2, prickly pear, n.; esp. opuntia tuna, a tall-growing species found in Central America and the West Indies, and introduced…
   5. turpentine 1562–77
      The fruit of the terebinth tree. Obsolete.
   6. mango 1582–
      The fruit of the mango tree (see sense A.I.2), a sweet orange-fleshed drupe which is much eaten as dessert, especially in the tropics, and is…
   7. mammee 1587–
      A large tree, Mammea americana (family Clusiaceae (Guttiferae)), native to the Caribbean and widely cultivated in tropical America; the large…
   8. durian 1588–
      The oval or globular fruit of Durio zibethinus, family Sterculiaceæ, a tree of the Indian Archipelago; it has a hard prickly rind and luscious…
   9. lychee 1588–
      The fruit of an evergreen tree, Litchi chinensis, of the family Sapindaceæ, native to southern China but widely cultivated in tropical countries…
   10. sapota 1589–
       The tree Achras Sapota and its fruit; = sapodilla, n. 1, 2; (see also quot. 1887). As modern Latin, a genus, the type of the Sapotaceæ, now…
   11. fritter 1591
       ? A species of apple. Obsolete. rare.
   12. mangosteen 1598–
       The fruit of the mangosteen tree (see sense 2), of the size of a small apple and with a thick dark-purple rind enclosing a sweet, white, juicy pulp.
   13. custard apple 1648–
       The large, fleshy fruit of any of various trees of the genus Annona (family Annonaceae), having a yellowish to brown reticulated skin, dark…
   14. longan 1655–
       The fruit of a Southeast Asian evergreen tree, Dimocarpus longan (family Sapindaceae), having a yellowish skin and sweet white flesh. Also: the…
   15. mammee sapota 1657–
       A Central American tree, Pouteria sapota, of the family Sapotaceae; the oval russet edible fruit of this tree (also called marmalade plum), which…
   16. mammee apple 1683–
       a. = mammee, n. 1; b. (more fully African mammee apple) a West African tree, Mammea africana, with an edible fruit, related to the mammee; c. wild…
   17. breadfruit 1697–
       Any of various tropical fruits with edible breadlike pulp; esp. the large fruit of Artocarpus altilis (family Moraceae), having rough green skin and…
   18. coco-plum 1699–
       The fruit of a West Indian tree Chrysobalanus Icaco; also the tree itself.
   19. rambutan 1707–
       The fruit of the tree Nephelium lappaceum (family Sapindaceae), oval to oblong in shape, covered with leathery red skin with soft spines, and…
   20. pawpaw 1709–
       U.S. More fully pawpaw bush, pawpaw tree. A small North American tree, Asimina triloba (family Annonaceae), with dull purple flowers and ovate…
   21. locust bean 1731–
       The fruit or seed of any of various leguminous trees, esp. the carob, Ceratonia siliqua, or (more fully African locust bean, West African locust bean…
   22. sapodilla 1750–
       The fruit of this tree.
   23. cherimoya 1758–
       The pulpy fruit of this tree, highly esteemed on account of its delicious flavour. It is of considerable size, irregularly heart-shaped, with a…
   24. wild lime 1767–
       Applied with qualification to fruits of trees of other genera. Ogeechee lime n. the sour tupelo, Nyssa capitata, of which a conserve is made. wild…
   25. Otaheite apple 1777–
       a. The Indo-Malaysian tree Spondias dulcis (family Anacardiaceae); (also) the yellow, plum-like fruit of this tree; b. Caribbean the Malay apple, Syz…
   26. narra 1779–
       A tall, rapidly-growing tree of Southeast Asia, Pterocarpus indicus (family Fabaceae (Leguminosae)), which bears panicles of fragrant orange or…
   27. langsat 1783–
       The edible fruit of Lansium domesticum, a tree of the family Meliaceæ, native to Indonesia and Malaysia; also, the tree itself.
   28. rose apple 1790–
       The edible sweet-scented fruit of any of various trees of the genus Syzygium (see sense 2b); esp. the pear-shaped fruit of S. jambos, which is…
   29. Otaheite plum 1793–
       = Otaheite apple, n. (b).
   30. cinnamon apple 1796
       An early variety of apple; (also) a fruit of Suriname.
   31. sapota plum 1797–
       attributive, as sapota plum, sapota wood.
   32. bhindi 1809–
       The plant okra, Abelmoschus esculentus. Also: the fruit of this plant, used in cookery as a vegetable and for thickening soups and stews.
   33. salak 1820–
       A thorny palm tree belonging to the genus Salacca, native to tropical Southeast Asia, esp. S. edulis, or its pear-shaped edible fruit.
   34. gingerbread plum 1824–
       A small evergreen tree native to western Africa, Neocarya macrophylla (family Chrysobalanaceae); (also) the fruit of this tree, a small edible drupe…
   35. geebung 1827–
       The fruit of various species of Persoonia, an Australian tree (family Proteaceae).
   36. loquat 1829–
       The fruit of Eriobotrya japonica, a native of China and Japan, introduced into southern Europe, India, and Australia.
   37. sapodilla plum 1830–
       = sapodilla, n. 2.
   38. sage-apple 1832–
       A gall-apple formed on a species of sage, Salvia pomifera, eaten as a fruit in Crete.
   39. kangaroo-apple 1834–
       The edible fruit of the Australian plants Solanum laciniatum (or aviculare) and Solanum vescum; also, the plants bearing this.
   40. karaka-fruit 1834–
       The bow-tree of New Zealand; Corynocarpus lævigata (family Anacardiaceæ). Also attributive, as karaka-berry, karaka-fruit, karaka-leaf, karaka-nut…
   41. quandong 1836–
       A shrub or small tree native to southern Australia, Santalum acuminatum (family Santalaceae), bearing racemes of small greenish-white flowers and…
   42. mombin 1837–
       The mango-like fruit of any of several hog-plum trees of the genus Spondias (family Anacardiaceae), esp. (more fully yellow mombin) the…
   43. Chinese gooseberry 1838–
       a. The fruit of the star fruit tree; (also) the tree itself (now rare); b. chiefly New Zealand the kiwi fruit, which is produced by several East…
   44. terap 1839–
       An evergreen tree, Artocarpus elasticus, of the family Moraceæ, native to Malaysia and closely related to the bread-fruit tree, also, the large…
   45. zapote 1842–
       = sapota, n.
   46. tamarind plum 1846–
       A leguminous East Indian tree, Dialium indicum, or its fruit: see quots.
   47. prairie pea 1848–
       Either of two milk vetches with edible fruits, the buffalo bean, Astragalus crassicarpus, and A. mexicanus; the fruit of either of these plants.
   48. Barbados-cherry 1858–
       The tart fruit, resembling a cherry, of the Malpighia urens.
   49. kei-apple 1859–
       The edible fruit of a South African shrub, Aberia Caffra; also, the shrub itself.
   50. Natal plum 1859–
       In the names of plants and animals found in Natal (now KwaZulu-Natal). The edible red plumlike fruit of Carissa macrocarpa (family Apocynaceae), a…
   51. bullock's heart 1866–
       The fruit of Anona reticulata.
   52. guava-apple 1866–
       = guava, n. 2.
   53. Sierra Leone peach 1866–
       A shrub or small tree, Nauclea latifolia (formerly Sarcocephalus esculentus) of the family Rubiaceæ, native to tropical Africa, or its edible…
   54. Turkey fig 1866–
       The common fig, Ficus carica; in Australia, the Indian fig or prickly pear, Opuntia.
   55. finger berry 1870–
       a. North American the fruit of a common North American bramble, Rubus allegheniensis; (also) the plant itself; b. Australian = finger cherry, n.
   56. marula 1877–
       The fruit of the marula tree, from which beer and other intoxicating liquors are brewed.
   57. Negro peach 1884–
       = Sierra Leone peach n. at Sierra Leone, n.
   58. scarlet banana 1885–
       Musa coccinea.
   59. Suriname cherry 1895–
       a. A South American tree, Malpighia glabra, or its edible aromatic fruit; b. an evergreen shrub or small tree, Eugenia uniflora, native to tropical…
   60. feijoa 1898–
       An evergreen shrub or small tree of the genus so named, which is native to South America and belongs to the family Myrtaceæ; also, the fruit of…
   61. pear apple 1898–
       a. A fruit having features of both an apple and a pear; esp. a rough-skinned variety of apple (now historical); b. the fruit of a prickly pear (a…
   62. finger cherry 1902–
       The elongated red fruit of the small tree Rhodomyrtus macrocarpa (family Myrtaceae), of Queensland and New Guinea; (also) the tree itself; also…
   63. ume 1918–
       The fruit of this tree (see also compounds).
   64. pepino 1922–
       The small, elongated melon-like fruit of the tropical shrub Solanum muricatum (family Solanaceae), having a yellow skin with purplish patches and…
   65. num-num 1926–
       Any of several, spiny, evergreen, southern African shrubs or small trees of the genus Carissa (family Apocynaceae), which have fragrant white…
   66. acerola 1954–
       The Barbados cherry, Malpighia glabra (family Malpighiaceae); the edible fruit of this tree, rich in vitamin C and used to make syrups, vitamin…
   View in Historical Thesaurus
   1. sapota 1589–
      The tree Achras Sapota and its fruit; = sapodilla, n. 1, 2; (see also quot. 1887). As modern Latin, a genus, the type of the Sapotaceæ, now…
   2. sapodilla 1750–
      The fruit of this tree.
   3. sapota plum 1797–
      attributive, as sapota plum, sapota wood.
   4. sapodilla plum 1830–
      = sapodilla, n. 2.
   5. zapote 1842–
      = sapota, n.
   View in Historical Thesaurus

## Pronunciation

### British English

/zəˈpəʊteɪ/

####

##### Consonants

- ppea
- ttea
- kkey
- bbuy
- ddye
- ɡguy
- tʃchore
- dʒjay
- ffore
- θthaw
- ssore
- ʃshore
- vvee
- ðthee
- zzee
- ʒbeige
- xloch
- hhay
- llay
- ɬrhingyll
- rray
- wway
- jyore
- mmay
- nnay
- ŋsing

Some consonants can take the function of the vowel in unstressed syllables. Where necessary, a syllabic marker diacritic is used, hence /ˈpɛtl/ but /ˈpɛtl̩i/.

##### Vowels

- iːfleece
- ihappy
- ɪkit
- ɛdress
- atrap, bath
- ɑːstart, palm, bath
- ɒlot
- ɔːthought, force
- ʌstrut
- ʊfoot
- uːgoose
- əletter
- əːnurse
- ɪənear
- ɛːsquare
- ʊəcure
- eɪface
- ʌɪpride
- aʊmouth
- əʊgoat
- ɔɪvoice
- ãgratin
- ɒ̃salon
- ᵻ(/ɪ/-/ə/)
- ᵿ(/ʊ/-/ə/)

##### Other symbols

- The symbol ˈ at the beginning of a syllable indicates that that syllable is pronounced with primary stress.
- The symbol ˌ at the beginning of a syllable indicates that that syllable is pronounced with secondary stress.
- Round brackets ( ) in a transcription indicate that the symbol within the brackets is optional.

View the pronunciation model here.

## Frequency

zapote typically occurs about 0.02 times per million words in modern written English.

zapote is in frequency band 3, which contains words occurring between 0.01 and 0.1 times per million words in modern written English. More about OED's frequency bands

Frequency data is computed programmatically, and should be regarded as an estimate.

### Frequency of zapote, n., 1840–2010

* Occurrences per million words in written English

Historical frequency series are derived from Google Books Ngrams (version 2), a data set based on the Google Books corpus of several million books printed in English between 1500 and 2010.

The overall frequency for a given word is calculated by summing frequencies for the main form of the word, any plural or inflected forms, and any major spelling variations.

For sets of homographs (distinct entries that share the same word-form, e.g. mole, n.¹, mole, n.², mole, n.³, etc.), we have estimated the frequency of each homograph entry as a fraction of the total Ngrams frequency for the word-form. This may result in inaccuracies.

Smoothing has been applied to series for lower-frequency words, using a moving-average algorithm. This reduces short-term fluctuations, which may be produced by variability in the content of the Google Books corpus.

Decade | Frequency per million words
--- | ---
1840 | 0.015
1850 | 0.018
1860 | 0.019
1870 | 0.019
1880 | 0.021
1890 | 0.022
1900 | 0.027
1910 | 0.031
1920 | 0.033
1930 | 0.034
1940 | 0.035
1950 | 0.034
1960 | 0.032
1970 | 0.029
1980 | 0.023
1990 | 0.019
2000 | 0.017
2010 | 0.015

zapote, n. was first published in 1986; not fully revised.

zapote, n. was last modified in December 2024.