coconut

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coconut

  • /ˈkəʊ.kə.nʌt/ UK
  • [ˈkʰəʊ̯.kə.nʌt] UK
  • [ˈkʰəʊ̯.kə.nɐt] UK
  • /ˈkoʊ.kəˌnʌt/ Canada, US
  • [ˈkʰoʊ̯.kəˌnʌt] Canada, US
  • /ˈkəʉ.kə.nɐt/ Australia
  • [ˈkʰəʉ̯.kə.nɐt] Australia
  • /ˈkɐʉ.kə.nɐt/ New Zealand
  • [ˈkʰɐʉ.kə.nɐt] New Zealand

Rhymes with -əʊkənʌt

Where it comes from

From coco + nut. In reference to assimilated Hispanic or black people, derived from the fruit's exotic origins. The slur originates from the idea that one is "brown on the outside, white on the inside". In reference to Polynesians, from the ubiquity of coconut palms in the area.

noun coconuts · coco-nut · cocoanut · cokernut

  1. countable, uncountable A fruit of the coconut palm (not a true nut), Cocos nucifera, having a fibrous husk surrounding a large seed. The Coco-nut Trees grow by the Sea, on the Weſtern ſide in great Groves, 3 or 4 Miles in length, and a Mile or two broad. This tree is in ſhape like the Cabbage-tree, and at a diſtance they are not to be known each from other, only the Coco-nut Tree is fuller of Branches ; but the Cabbage-tree gener
  2. countable, uncountable A hard-shelled seed of this fruit, having white flesh and a fluid-filled central cavity.
  3. uncountable The edible white flesh of this fruit.
  4. countable, uncountable The coconut palm.
  5. US, countable, derogatory, ethnic, slur, uncountable A Hispanic or other dark-skinned person considered to have overly assimilated to white culture. After that I was regarded as comic. I became a ‘coconut’—someone brown on the outside, white on the inside. I was the bleached academic—more white than the anglo professors. In my classes several students glared at me, clearly seeing in me the person they feared ever becoming. Who was I, after all,
  6. Australia, Kenya, South Africa, countable, derogatory, ethnic A black person considered to have overly assimilated to white culture, a black race traitor. Their convictions challenged those critics who dismissed John Githongo’s anti-corruption efforts as the naïve projection of inappropriate ‘mzungu’ values onto an African nation where they were doomed to fail. If John was a ‘coconut’, he certainly wasn’t the only coconut in Kenya.

    Similar: Oreo, Uncle Tom

  7. Singapore, countable, derogatory, ethnic, slur, uncountable A Malay person who cannot speak Malay.
  8. Malaysia, countable, derogatory, ethnic, slur, uncountable An Indian person who cannot speak Tamil.
  9. New Zealand, countable, derogatory, ethnic, slur, uncountable A Pacific islander.
  10. countable, slang, uncountable A female breast. He compliments her erect posture and says her breasts look like big clusters of grapes hanging off a palm tree. You would expect him to say merely that he likes her big coconuts.
  11. countable, slang, uncountable The human head. [Ashley J. Williams shoots a zombified version of the Winter Soldier in the head.] Dazzler: Oh my God...thank you! I-i-is he-- Ashley J. Williams: A double-barrel boomstick blast straight through the coconut? Trust me, babe--he's not comin' back from that one.

    Similar: nut

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: coco palm, coco, coconut palm, coconut meat, cocoa palm, cocoanut, coconut tree, cocos nucifera, koko, palm, cocoa, tree, alkyl, kitty, coke, desiccated

Translations

Every language

noun fruit of coco palm

Españolcoco, laña
한국어코코넛 kokoneot, 야자열매 yajayeolmae
日本語ココナッツ kokonattsu, 椰子の実 yashi no mi
中文椰子 yēzi
हिन्दीनारियल nāriyal, नारिकेल nārikel
Kiswahilinazi, dafu
Portuguêscoco
Françaisnoix de coco
DeutschKokosnuss
Italianonoce di cocco
Ελληνικάκαρύδα karýda
Românănucă de cocos
Русскийкоко́с kokós, коко́совый оре́х kokósovyj oréx
Tiếng Việt(trái / quả) dừa
العربيةجَوْز الْهِنْد jawz al-hind, نَارْجِيل nārjīl
עבריתקוקוס kokus

noun shelled seed

한국어코코넛 kokoneot
中文椰種 /椰种 yēzhǒng
हिन्दीगरी का गोला garī kā golā
Portuguêscoco
Русскийкоко́с kokós, коко́совый оре́х kokósovyj oréx
Tiếng Việt(sọ) dừa

noun edible flesh of coconut fruit

中文椰子肉 yēziròu
हिन्दीगरी garī
Portuguêscoco
Ελληνικάινδική καρύδα indikí karýda
Русскийкоко́с kokós
Tiếng Việtcơm dừa

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Cite this
MLA

"coconut." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/coconut. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

coconut. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/coconut

Chicago

"coconut." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/coconut.

BibTeX
@misc{coconut_2026,
  title = {coconut},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/coconut},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}