breadfruit, noun

Origin:
See quotation 1972.
In full breadfruit tree: bread tree.
[a1827 D. Carmichael in W.J. Hooker Botanical Misc. (1831) II. 265The stem of the Zamia cycadaefolia, when stripped of its leaves, resembles a large Pine-apple. It is called the Hottentot Bread-fruit. These people bury it for some months in the ground, then pound it, and extract a quantity of farinaceous matter of the nature of Sago.]
1908 Phloeophagus in E. London Dispatch 24 Dec. 3Our local Cycads..are commonly called ‘Kafirbread,’ ‘Breadfruit tree,’ ‘Bread palm,’ or simply ‘palm.’
1913 C. Pettman Africanderisms 88Breadfruit, Encephalartos caffer, Lehm. The name sometimes given in the Eastern Province to this and other members of the Cycadaceae family.
[c1969 E. Gledhill E. Cape Veld Flowers 38Encephalartos altensteinii,..Cycad, Kaffir Bread Fruit.]
1972 Beeton & Dorner in Eng. Usage in Sn Afr. Vol.3 No.2, 46Breadfruit tree,..Several species of Encephelartos..with stout, round trunks & a crown of long, spiny pinnate leaves; the pith of the cone-like fruit of species such as E. caffer & E. altensteinii or E. transvenosus is used by Ba[ntu] to make bread.
In full breadfruit tree: bread tree.
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18271972