Etymology

lychee

L1Y4C3H4E1E1

Today it means: The Chinese tropical fruit tree Litchi chinensis, of the soapberry family. Full definition →

Cantonese 荔枝 ← Hokkien 荔枝
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The story

  1. Hokkien · derived from荔枝
  2. Cantonese · derived from荔枝
  3. English todaylychee

* /ˈlaɪ̯.t͡ʃi/, /laɪ̯ˈt͡ʃiː/ from Cantonese 荔枝 (lai⁶ zi¹) * /ˈlit͡ʃi/ from Hokkien 荔枝 (lē-chi) Doublet of litchi and lichi.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.