Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

papaya

/pəˈpaɪ.ə/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.87 in modern English

Syllables: pa-paya
IPA: /pəˈpaɪ.ə/

13

Scrabble Score

6

Letters

3

Syllables

3

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A tropical American evergreen tree, Carica papaya, having large, yellow, edible fruit.

noun

The fruit of this tree.

noun

An orange colour, like that of papaya flesh.

Example Sentences

"It was that image, its practical mundanity, the preparation of fruit I have seen you do a thousand times, the spoon gliding along the papaya’s flesh-orange core, a slush of black seeds plopping into the steel sink, that made it unbearable."

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish papaya, from Lokono papáia. Doublet of pawpaw.

Word Breakdown

Root: papáia

Regional Pronunciation

British English: /pəˈpaɪ.ə/

Inflected Forms

papayas (plural)

Phrases

mountain papaya raw papaya yaya papaya

Frequently Paired Words

papain

Synonyms

pawpaw papaia papaya tree melon tree carica papaya

Rhymes With

via maya messiah jeremiah mariah playa josiah gaia maia jaya aja pariah

Questions

How do you pronounce papaya?: The recorded pronunciation is /pəˈpaɪ.ə/.
What does papaya mean?: A tropical American evergreen tree, Carica papaya, having large, yellow, edible fruit.
Where does papaya come from?: Borrowed from Spanish papaya, from Lokono papáia. Doublet of pawpaw.

How to pronounce papaya

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “papaya”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/pəˈpaɪ.ə/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “papaya”.
Repeat and practice — Say “papaya” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.