ackee

English
An open ackee (fruit)

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Akan akye.

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /ˈækiː/, /əˈkiː/
  • Audio (southern England)(file)
  • Rhymes: -iː (one pronunciation)

Noun

ackee (countable and uncountable, plural ackees)

  1. A tropical evergreen tree, Blighia sapida, related to the lychee and longan.
    • 1883, Daniel Morris, The Colony of British Honduras, Its Resources and Prospects, London: Edward Stanford, Chapter 7, p. 113,
      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.
    • 2009, Staceyann Chin, The Other Side of Paradise, New York: Scribner, “In My Father’s House,” p. 25,
      Delano and I are sprawled out under the ackee tree watching the black ants march from one rotten ackee pod to the next.
  2. The fruit of the tree, of which only the arils are edible, the remainder being poisonous.
    Ackee and saltfish is a traditional Jamaican dish.
    • 2004, Andrea Levy, Small Island, London: Review, Chapter Seven, pp. 104-105,
      The fleshy sacks that dangled down between his legs, like rotting ackees, wobbled.

Translations

See also
  • ackee and saltfish

Further reading

Anagrams

Jamaican Creole
Ackee

Alternative forms

Etymology

Possibly from Akan aŋkye or Kuwaa a-kee.[1]

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /ˈakɪ/
  • Hyphenation: a‧ckee

Noun

ackee (plural: ackee dem or ackees dem, quantified: ackee)

  1. An ackee[2].
    Nuttn nuh nice like ackee and saltfish an' fry dumplin' fi breakfast.
    There's nothing better than ackee and salted codfish with fried dumplings for breakfast.

Usage notes

Not to be confused with Bajan ackee (“Melicoccus bijugatus or its fruit; mamoncillo”).

References
  1. Richard Allsopp, editor, Dictionary of Caribbean English Usage, Kingston, Jamaica: University of the West Indies Press, 1996 (2003 printing), →ISBN, page 9
  2. Richard Allsopp, editor, Dictionary of Caribbean English Usage, Kingston, Jamaica: University of the West Indies Press, 1996 (2003 printing), →ISBN, page 9
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