Etymology

durian

D2U1R1I1A1N1

Today it means: Any of several trees, genus Durio, of Southeast Asia. Full definition →

Malay durian ← Proto-Austronesian *duʀi
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The story

  1. Proto-Austronesian · derived from*duʀi“thorn”
  2. Malay · borrowed fromdurian
  3. English todaydurian

From Malay durian, ultimately from Proto-Austronesian *duʀi (“thorn”). Doublet of iwi, from Māori.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.