Meanings
plural dragon fruits · alternative dragonfruit
- The fruit of certain cacti of the genus (Stenocereus (syn. Hylocereus) spp.), cultivated in Southeast Asia and Central and South America, having cerise-pink- or yellow-coloured skin and a white or pink sweet fleshy interior with black seeds.
Synonyms: pitaya, strawberry pear
Synonyms & antonyms
nounThe fruit of certain cacti of the genus (Stenocereus (syn. Hylocereus) spp.), cultivated in Southeast Asia and Central and South America, having cerise-pink- or yellow-coloured skin and a white or pink sweet fleshy interior with black seeds.
Origin
From dragon + fruit; most likely a calque or literal translation of a term in a Southeast Asian language (compare Chinese 火龍果 /火龙果 (huǒlóngguǒ, literally “fiery dragon fruit”). Initial English texts cite Vietnamese thanh long; however, this was constructed differently, being a Sino-Vietnamese term for "Azure Dragon" (青龍) re-used to reference the green, "unripe" color of the fruit. First attributed in 1963.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans draakvrug, pitaja
- draakvrugfruit
- pitajafruit
Arabic فَاكِهَة تِنِّين, بتايا
- فَاكِهَة تِنِّين (fākihat tinnīn)fruit
- بتاياfruit
Bengali পিতায়া
- পিতায়া (pitaẏa)fruit
Bulgarian пита́я
- пита́я (pitája)fruit
Catalan fruita del drac, pitaia
- fruita del dracfruit
- pitaiafruit
- pitahaiafruit
Chinese Cantonese 火龍果 /火龙果
- 火龍果 /火龙果 (fo² lung⁴ gwo²)fruit
Chinese Mandarin 火龍果 /火龙果, 龍珠果 /龙珠果
- 火龍果 /火龙果 (huǒlóngguǒ)fruit
- 龍珠果 /龙珠果 (lóngzhūguǒ)fruit
Dutch drakenvrucht, pitaya
- drakenvruchtfruit
- pitayafruit
Esperanto drakofrukto
- drakofruktofruit
Finnish pitahaya, pitaya
- pitahayafruit
- pitayafruit
- lohikäärmehedelmäfruit
French fruit du dragon, pitaya
- fruit du dragonfruit
- pitayafruit
- pitahayafruit
German Drachenfrucht, Pitahaya
- Drachenfruchtfruit
- Pitahayafruit
- Pitayafruit
Greek φρούτο του δράκου
- φρούτο του δράκου (froúto tou drákou)fruit
Hungarian pitaja
- pitajafruit
Icelandic drekaávöxtur, drekaaldin
- drekaávöxturfruit
- drekaaldinfruit
Indonesian buah naga
- buah nagafruit
Irish dragantoradh
- dragantoradhfruit
Italian frutto del drago
- frutto del dragofruit
Japanese ドラゴンフルーツ, ピタヤ
- ドラゴンフルーツ (doragonfurūtsu)fruit
- ピタヤ (pitaya)fruit
Korean 용과, 피타야
- 용과 (yonggwa)fruit
- 피타야 (pitaya)fruit
Latvian pitaija
- pitaijafruit
Malay buah naga
- buah nagafruit
Polish pitaja, smoczy owoc
- pitajafruit
- smoczy owocfruit
Portuguese pitaia, rainha-da-noite
- pitaiafruit
- rainha-da-noitefruit
- dama-da-noitefruit
- fruta-do-dragãofruit
Russian пита́йя, пита́хайя
- пита́йя (pitájja)fruit
- пита́хайя (pitáxajja)fruit
- питаха́йя (pitaxájja)fruit
- драко́ний фрукт (drakónij frukt)fruit
Spanish fruta del dragón, pitahaya
- fruta del dragónfruit
- pitahayafruit
- pitajayafruit
- pitayafruit
- pitayofruit
Swedish drakfrukt, pitaya
- drakfruktfruit
- pitayafruit
- pitahayafruit
Tagalog pitaya
- pitayafruit
Tamil டிராகன் பழம்
- டிராகன் பழம் (ṭirākaṉ paḻam)fruit
Thai แก้วมังกร
- แก้วมังกร (gɛ̂ɛo-mang-gɔɔn)fruit
Turkish pitaya
- pitayafruit
Ukrainian пітахайя, пітайя
- пітахайя (pitaxajja)fruit
- пітайя (pitajja)fruit
Vietnamese thanh long
- thanh longfruit
Cite this entry
dragon fruit. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dragon%20fruit
“dragon fruit.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dragon%20fruit. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “dragon fruit,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dragon%20fruit.
Source: dragon fruit on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.