acerola

[ as-uh-roh-luh ]

noun

1. the cherrylike fruit of a small tree, Malpighia glabra, of the West Indies and adjacent areas, having a high concentration of vitamin C.
2. the tree itself.

acerola

/ ˌæsəˈrəʊlə /

noun

1. a small tree or shrub, Malpighia glabra , that grows in the rainforests of N South America, Central America, and Jamaica
2. the small, soft, bright red fruit of this tree, which looks like a cherry but has a sharp flavour

Word History and Origins

Origin of acerola¹

First recorded in 1940–45; from Latin American Spanish, Spanish: a species of hawthorn, Crataegus azarolus, from Arabic al-zuʿrūr “the acerola”

Word History and Origins

Origin of acerola¹

C21: from Portuguese

Example Sentences

The authors found that a solution containing extracts of ginger root, Ginkgo biloba, willow, prickly pear fruit and acerola berry was helpful, however.

From Seattle Times

Try unusual cocktails made from hard-to-find fruit, like an acerola — or tart Brazilian cherry — caipirinha, before tucking into grilled fish and mango coated in sesame seeds.

From New York Times

The chicken coop squatted between the pigsty and the mango tree, a branch of which held one end of Mami’s laundry line, the other end stretched to the trunk of an acerola bush.

From Literature

We had a few trees inside that we used to call the orchard – avocado, acerola, guava, mango, passion fruit and banana.

From The Guardian

As of this afternoon, an Amazon.com search for Ebola supplements only returned two products – an acerola cherry extract and a Chinese herb – and a surface disinfectant.

From Forbes