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coconut

noun

Simple meaning

Large hard-shelled oval nut with a fibrous husk containing thick white meat surrounding a central cavity filled with fluid or milk.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

kohkuhnuht

Say the bold part a little louder.

US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈkoʊkənət

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. A fruit of the coconut palm (not a true nut), Cocos nucifera, having a fibrous husk surrounding a large seed.

  2. Large hard-shelled oval nut with a fibrous husk containing thick white meat surrounding a central cavity filled (when fresh) with fluid or milk

  3. A hard-shelled seed of this fruit, having white flesh and a fluid-filled central cavity.

  4. Tall palm tree bearing coconuts as fruits; widely planted throughout the tropics

  5. The edible white meat of a coconut; often shredded for use in e.g. cakes and curries

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
B1 · Intermediate (estimated)
Frequency
Moderately Common
Typical Use
Neutral / general English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: A fruit of the coconut palm (not a true nut), Cocos nucifera, having a fibrous husk surrounding a large seed.

Used this way, coconut is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
Matter-of-fact
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Nearby words

  • coconut tree , rarer, so it draws attention
  • coconut meat , rarer, so it draws attention

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use coconut

  • “I enjoy drinking fresh coconut water on a hot summer day.”

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

Fruit / tall

coconut milkcoconut palmcoconut grovecoconut treecoconut watercoconut shell

Other combinations

coconut oilcoconut cream

Tap the highlighted word to open its own entry.

Similar Words, What’s the Difference?

Close in meaning, but not always interchangeable.

  • coco

    Coconut, the fruit of the coconut palm.

  • coco palm

    The coconut palm.

  • coconut palm

    The tropical palm tree Cocos nucifera, having feathery leaves and bearing coconuts.

  • cocoanut

    Large hard-shelled oval nut with a fibrous husk containing thick white meat surrounding a central cavity filled (when….

Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • coconut cakenounCompound term

    Cake containing shredded coconut in batter and frosting.

  • coconut creamnounCompound term

    White liquid obtained from compressing fresh coconut meat.

  • coconut macaroonnounCompound term

    Macaroon containing coconut.

  • coconut meatnounCompound term

    The edible white meat of a coconut.

  • coconut milknounCompound term

    White liquid obtained from compressing fresh coconut meat.

  • coconut oilnounCompound term

    Oil from coconuts.

Related Words

Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

Sense: fruit of the coconut palm (not a true nut)

coconut treeRarecoconut palmcocococonut meatRarecocoanut

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.