star apple

noun

1. the edible fruit of a West Indian tree, Chrysophyllum cainito, of the sapodilla family, which when cut across exhibits a star-shaped figure within.
2. the tree itself.

star-apple

noun

1. a West Indian sapotaceous tree, Chrysophyllum cainito , with smooth-skinned edible greenish-purple fruit
2. the fruit of this tree which, when cut across, reveals a star-shaped arrangement of seeds

Word History and Origins

Origin of star apple¹

First recorded in 1675–85

Example Sentences

In his 1979 work about Jamaica, "The Star-Apple Kingdom," he wrote of the "groom, the cattleboy, the housemaid ... the good Negroes down in the village, their mouths in the locked jaw of a silent scream."

From Los Angeles Times

Style single, pointed.—A small, mostly tropical order, producing the Sapodilla or Star-apple, and some other edible fruits.

From Project Gutenberg

Star-apple, chrysophyllum cainito, belongs to the monogynia order, and petandria class of plants.

From Project Gutenberg

Sapotace�, sap-o-tā′sē-ē, n. a natural order of trees and shrubs, often abounding in milky juice, including the gutta-percha tree—one species yields the star-apple, another the Mammee-Sapota or American marmalade.

From Project Gutenberg

The star-apple is so called because when cut through transversely its centre presents the figure of a star.

From Project Gutenberg