kiwi fruit (English)
Where does "kiwi fruit" come from?
The name of the 'kiwi fruit' serves as a trade name for varieties of the Chinese gooseberry, which were selectively bred in New Zealand[1]. The name was chosen because the fuzzy brown skin of the fruit resembles the plumage of the 'kiwi', a flightless bird endemic to New Zealand[1]. This avian name itself originates from the Maori word 'kiwi'[1], which is believed to derive from the Proto-Malayo-Polynesian form 'kiuk' meaning 'cheep' or 'peep'[2]. This earlier term was likely onomatopoeic, imitating the distinct cry of the bird[2].
Open questions
- The derivation of the Maori word from the Proto-Polynesian reconstructed form 'kiu' and the Proto-Oceanic 'kiuk' relies on linguistic reconstruction. [2]
- The claim that the Maori word is onomatopoeic is based on the inferred meaning of Proto-Malayo-Polynesian 'kiuk' as a representation of a bird call. [2]
Full etymology tree
- kiwi fruit (English), 'A Chinese gooseberry vine fruit, having a hairy brown skin and dark green (or in the case of the kiwi fruit gold, yellow) flesh with fine black seeds, almost always varieties of Actinidia deliciosa.'
- compound kiwi (English), 'A flightless bird of the order Apterygiformes native to New Zealand.'
- borrowed kiwi (Maori), 'kiwi (bird)'
- inherited *kiu (Proto-Polynesian)
- inherited *kiuk (Proto-Oceanic)
- inherited *kiuk (Proto-Malayo-Polynesian)
- inherited *kiuk (Proto-Oceanic)
- inherited *kiu (Proto-Polynesian)
- borrowed kiwi (Maori), 'kiwi (bird)'
- compound fruit (English), 'A product of fertilization in a plant, specifically'
- compound kiwi (English), 'A flightless bird of the order Apterygiformes native to New Zealand.'
Ancestors
- kiwi (Maori)
Descendants and derived words
- kiwi (English)
- kiwi (English)
- kiwi (English)
- kiwi (English)
Sources
Updated August 2026
Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris