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baobab

UK/ˈbeɪə(ʊ)bab/US/ˈbeɪoʊˌbæb/
nounC1Rare in speech; mostly a word you read · #14,098 of 15,258leans written

Other forms: baobabs

A baobab is an African tree with an enormously fat water-storing trunk. Under the baobab, an ancient baobab, the baobab in flower.

The trunk can hold tens of thousands of litres, and the biggest are among the oldest living things on land. The Arabic name means father of many seeds, from the large pods of dry pulp.

Aboubacarkhoraa · CC BY-SA 4.0

Definitions of baobab

  1. 1nounbaobabAn African tree with an enormously fat water-storing trunk.C1

    “A huge baobab stood alone on the dry plain, its trunk as wide as a small house.”

baobab is a tree.

Where it comes from

Medieval Latin bahobab comes from an Arabic phrase meaning father of many seeds.

  1. Arabic

    أَبُو حِبَاب — father of many seeds

  2. Medieval Latin

    bahobab

  3. English, today

    baobab

Built from

  • أَبُو · Arabic — father
  • حَبّ · Arabic — seed

Borrowed from Medieval Latin bahobab, from Arabic أَبُو حِبَاب (“father of many seeds”), from أَبُو (“father”) + حَبّ (“seed”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in Trees & Flowers

Practise this word

baobab in the wild

  • Adansonia is a genus of medium-to-large deciduous trees known as baobabs (; also UK:, US: ) or boababs.

    Adansonia

  • Other common names for the baobab include monkey-bread tree, upside-down tree, and cream of tartar tree.

    Adansonia digitata

  • The Parijaat tree is a sacred baobab tree in the village of Kintoor, near Barabanki, Uttar Pradesh, India, about which there are several legends.

    Parijaat tree, Kintoor

  • The tree is known as baobab in modern science which is originated in Sub-sahara Africa and hence its presence in the fertile land of India makes it rare.

    Parijaat tree, Kintoor

  • Sunland Baobab (also Platland Baobab, Mooketsi Baobab, Tree Bar, Big Baobab or Pub Tree) is a well-known enormous baobab (Adansonia digitata) in South Africa.

    Sunland Baobab

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.