Liberal Dictionary English Dictionary
noun
- a small candy or lozenge of gum arabic, gelatin, or the like and fruit flavoring.
- Chinese date.
noun
- any of several Old World spiny rhamnaceous trees of the genus Ziziphus, esp Z. jujuba, that have small yellowish flowers and dark red edible fruitsSee also Christ’s-thorn
- the fruit of any of these trees
- a chewy sweet made of flavoured gelatine and sometimes medicated to soothe sore throats
late 14c., “date-like fruit from a tree found in Asia,” from Medieval Latin jujuba (plural), from Late Latin zizyphum, from zizyphus, an Asiatic tree with datelike fruit, from Greek zizyphon, from Persian zayzafun. The meaning “soft candy with date-like flavor” first recorded 1835.