Meanings
plural baobabs · alternative obsolete boabab
- A tree, Adansonia digitata, native to tropical Africa, having a broad swollen trunk and edible gourd-like hanging fruits.
Synonyms: African baobab, cream of tartar tree, monkey bread, sour gourd, tabaldi, tebeldi, upside-down tree
- Any tree of the genus Adansonia.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA tree, Adansonia digitata, native to tropical Africa, having a broad swollen trunk and edible gourd-like hanging fruits.
More synonyms by meaning
nounAfrican tree having an exceedingly thick trunk and fruit that resembles a gourd and has an edible pulp called monkey bread
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Arabicأَبُو حِبَاب“father of many seeds”
- Medieval Latinbahobab
- Englishbaobab
Borrowed from Medieval Latin bahobab, from Arabic أَبُو حِبَاب (ʔabū ḥibāb, “father of many seeds”), from أَبُو (ʔabū, “father”) + حَبّ (ḥabb, “seed”).
More words from Medieval Latin, Arabic
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans kremetart
- kremetartAdansonia digitata
Arabic أَبُو حِبَاب, بُوحِبَاب
- أَبُو حِبَاب (ʔabū ḥibāb)Adansonia digitata
- بُوحِبَاب (būḥibāb)Adansonia digitata
- بَاوْبَاب (bāwbāb)Adansonia digitata
- تِبِلْدِيّ (tibildiyy)Adansonia digitata
Catalan baobab
- baobabAdansonia digitata
Chinese Mandarin 猴麵包樹 /猴面包树, 猢猻樹 /猢狲树
- 猴麵包樹 /猴面包树 (hóu miànbāo shù)Adansonia digitata
- 猢猻樹 /猢狲树 (húsūn shù)Adansonia digitata
Czech baobab
- baobabAdansonia digitata
Danish baobab, baobabtræ
- baobabAdansonia digitata
- baobabtræAdansonia digitata
- abebrødtræAdansonia digitata
Dutch baobab, apenbroodboom
- baobabAdansonia digitata
- apenbroodboomAdansonia digitata
Esperanto baobabo
- baobaboAdansonia digitata
Finnish apinanleipäpuu
- apinanleipäpuuAdansonia digitata
French baobab
- baobabAdansonia digitata
German Affenbrotbaum
- AffenbrotbaumAdansonia digitata
Greek μπαομπάμπ
- μπαομπάμπ (baompámp)Adansonia digitata
Hebrew בָּאוֹבַּבּ
- בָּאוֹבַּבּ (baobáb)Adansonia digitata
Hungarian majomkenyérfa
- majomkenyérfaAdansonia digitata
Icelandic apabrauðstré
- apabrauðstréAdansonia digitata
Indonesian pohon kaki gajah
- pohon kaki gajahAdansonia digitata
Italian baobab
- baobabAdansonia digitata
Japanese バオバブ
- バオバブ (baobabu)Adansonia digitata
Korean 바오바브
- 바오바브 (baobabeu)Adansonia digitata
Polish baobab
- baobabAdansonia digitata
Portuguese embondeiro, baobá
- embondeiroAdansonia digitata
- baobáAdansonia digitata
- calabaceiraAdansonia digitata
Romanian baobab
- baobabAdansonia digitata
Russian баоба́б
- баоба́б (baobáb)Adansonia digitata
Spanish baobab
- baobabAdansonia digitata
Swahili mbuyu
- mbuyuAdansonia digitata
Tamil பெருக்கமரம், பப்பரப்புளி
- பெருக்கமரம் (perukkamaram)Adansonia digitata
- பப்பரப்புளி (papparappuḷi)Adansonia digitata
Turkish baobap
- baobapAdansonia digitata
Vietnamese bao báp
- bao bápAdansonia digitata
Zulu isiMuhu
- isiMuhuAdansonia digitata
Cite this entry
baobab. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/baobab
“baobab.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/baobab. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “baobab,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/baobab.
Source: baobab on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.