Dictionary

ackee en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈækiː/
• /əˈkiː/
• (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

Borrowed from Akan akye.

Meanings

1. (countable, uncountable) A tropical evergreen tree, Blighia sapida, related to the lychee and longan.
   • Delano and I are sprawled out under the ackee tree watching the black ants march from one rotten ackee pod to the next. 2009, Staceyann Chin, “In My Father’s House”, in The Other Side of Paradise, New York: Scribner, page 25:
   • The beautiful Akee (Blighia sapida), originally brought from the West Coast of Africa by slave ships, is now a common tree in the West Indies, and I noticed several fine specimens in Belize. 1883, Daniel Morris, chapter 7, in The Colony of British Honduras, Its Resources and Prospects, London: Edward Stanford, page 113:
2. (countable, uncountable) The fruit of the tree, of which only the arils are edible, the remainder being poisonous.
   • The fleshy sacks that dangled down between his legs, like rotting ackees, wobbled. 2004, Andrea Levy, chapter 7, in Small Island, London: Review, pages 104–105:
   • Ackee and saltfish is a traditional Jamaican dish.

Forms

Relateds

ackee and saltfish

Translations (29)

nmz febiir (fruit) · eo akio (tree) · de Akipflaume (fruit) · dag kpihiga (tree) · fr akée (tree) · cs poddužák lahodný (tree) · nmz feega (tree) · fon lisɛtin (tree) · mos fĩ-zã (tree) · es akí (tree) · nup yìlàn̄ci (tree) · nup yìlà (fruit) · de Akee (tree) · mql fùkidɔ́ńbù (tree) · cmn 阿開木 /阿开木 (tree) · ko 액키 (tree) · nmz felugr (fruit) · bm finsan (tree) · ja アキー (tree) · yo igi iṣin (tree) · fr aki (tree) · ja アキー (fruit) · dag kpihili (fruit) · de Akee (fruit) · pt akee (fruit) · ff feso (tree) · mfq kpiig (tree) · yo iṣin (fruit) · nmz feyaɦlu (fruit)