lychee

Alternative forms

• lichee, lichi

Etymology

From Cantonese 荔枝 (lai⁶ zi¹). Doublet of litchi.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈlaɪ̯t͡ʃi/, /laɪ̯ˈt͡ʃiː/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (US also) IPA^(key): /ˈlit͡ʃi/
• Rhymes: -iːtʃi, -aɪtʃi

Noun

lychee (countable and uncountable, plural lychees)

1. The Chinese tropical fruit tree Litchi chinensis, of the soapberry family.
3. That tree's bright red oval fruit with a single stone surrounded by a fleshy white aril.
   • 1928 October 13, The Argus, Melbourne, page 2, column 7:

     No Chinese meal is complete without some succulent dim sims (pork minced with water chestnuts and enclosed in paste), and such sweets as honeyed lychee nuts and honeyed ginger.

4. (uncountable) A soft pink-red colour, like that of a lychee rind (also called lychee red).

   lychee:  

References

• The OED lists this as a variant of litchi.
• Webster’s Third New International lists this as a variant of litchi.

Anagrams

• Cheely, leechy

Etymology

From Cantonese 荔枝 (lai⁶ zi¹).

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: ly‧chee

Noun

lychee m (plural lychees, diminutive lycheetje n)

1. lychee (Litchi chinensis)

References

• van der Sijs, Nicoline, editor (2010), “lychee”, in Etymologiebank, Meertens Institute

Further reading

• lychee on the Dutch Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^nl