feijoa

American  

[fey-yoh-uh, -hoh-uh] / feɪˈyoʊ ə, -ˈhoʊ ə /

noun

1. a shrub, Feijoa sellowiana, of the myrtle family, native to South America, bearing edible, greenish, plumlike fruit.

2. the fruit of this shrub.

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feijoa British  

/ fiːˈdʒəʊə /

noun

1. an evergreen myrtaceous shrub, Feijoa sellowiana , of South America

2. the fruit of this shrub

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Etymology

Origin of feijoa

< New Latin (1858), after João da Silva Feijó (1760–1824), Brazilian soldier and naturalist; -a ²

Example Sentences

In Colombia, the feijoa flowers are found in the tree canopy, without nectar or odor; instead, the rats feed on the petals and forage during the day when the flowers are open and fertile.

From New York Times • Jun. 22, 2022

The rats arrived from Europe, likely hundreds of years ago as a result of colonization; the feijoa trees spread northward from their native Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil.

From New York Times • Jun. 22, 2022

To test his hypothesis, Mr. Matallana-Puerto did what any good naturalist would do: He watched and observed that the rats were attracted to feijoa plants.

From New York Times • Jun. 22, 2022

The tale of rats and feijoa meeting in the city — and potentially elsewhere — is an unlikely love story: Neither is native to Colombia.

From New York Times • Jun. 22, 2022

At 76, he likes to sit about knitting afghan squares; he makes popovers and feijoa jam at his modest home on the Palo Alto campus.

From Time Magazine Archive