Meaning
A glossy, deep-red, pear-shaped fruit (Syzygium malaccense) with crisp, mildly sweet white flesh around a large seed — Jamaica's 'apple'. Brought from the Pacific, the otaheite apple is eaten fresh off the tree, cool and refreshing though delicate in flavour, and its brilliant waxy red skin makes it a striking sight when the tree bears heavily in season. A favourite seasonal treat, especially for children, it is one of the island's own answers to the temperate apple.
Examples
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Di otaheite apple tree drop fruit all ova di yaad.
The otaheite apple tree dropped fruit all over the yard.
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Wash di otaheite apple an nyam it just so.
Wash the otaheite apple and eat it just like that.
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Nuttin sweet like a ripe otaheite apple inna season.
Nothing's as nice as a ripe otaheite apple in season.
Origin
Named 'Otaheite' (an old name for Tahiti) for its Pacific origin; it is the Malay apple, brought to the Caribbean and adopted as the Jamaican 'apple'.
How it’s used
In Jamaica this is 'apple'; the imported temperate apple is often called 'apple' too, so context matters.