noun ·2 syllables ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   A tree, Carica papaya, native to tropical America, belonging to the order Brassicales, that produces dull orange-colored, melon-shaped fruit.
2. 2
   Alternative form of pawpaw, a grandfather, especially one's paternal grandfather. Southern-US, US, alt-of, alternative, dialectal
3. 3
   fruit with yellow flesh; related to custard apples wordnet
4. 4
   A father. Southern-US, US, dialectal, uncommon
5. 5
   small tree native to the eastern United States having oblong leaves and fleshy fruit wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

pawpawpaasimina trilobaberrydaddaddy

Example

More examples

"The moisturiser contains papaw and I like it!"

Etymology

Etymology 1

From papaya.

Etymology 2

Related to papa, or pa pa (one's fathers father).

Related phrases

carica papaya

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.