Do You Know How to Say These Fruit Names in Spanish? (2024)

Are you learning Spanish? Perhaps you're planning on traveling to a Spanish-speaking country near the equator and want to enjoy tropical fruits.

Fruit names in Spanish might sometimes sound very similar to their English counterparts, as is the case with bananas and mangos. But there are certainly some fruits that could be tricky to remember. Also, don't forget that Spanish words take either a masculine or feminine form that dictates the gender of adjectives and articles you should use.

Thankfully, this list of Spanish words for fruits will come in handy as you look to practice your Spanish vocabulary and speaking skills. It's complete with dozens of words, along with their accompanying article.

Fruit Names in Spanish A–G

• Apple — la manzana
• Apricot — el damasco, el albaricoque
• Avocado — el aguacate
• Banana — el plátano, la banana
• Blackberry — la mora, la zarzamora
• Blackcurrant — la grosella negra
• Blueberry — el arándano
• Camu camu — el camu camu
• Cantaloupe — el melón
• Cherimoya — la chirimoya
• Cherry — la cereza
• Citron — el cidro, el citrón, la toronja
• Coconut — el coco
• Cucumber — el pepino
• Cranberry — el arándano agrio
• Date — el dátil
• Fig — el higo
• Galia — el melón galia
• Gooseberry — la grosella espinosa
• Grape — la uva (A dried grape or raisin is una pasa or una uva pasa.)
• Grapefruit — el pomelo, la toronja
• Guarana — la fruta de guaraná

Fruit Names in Spanish H–Z

• Honeydew melon — el melón tuna
• Huckleberry — el arándano
• Kiwi — el kiwi
• Kumquat — el quinoto
• Lemon — el limón
• Lime — la lima, el limón
• Loganberry — la zarza, la frambuesa
• Lychee — la lichi
• Mandarin — la mandarina
• Mango — el mango
• Melon — el melón
• Mulberry — la mora
• Naranjilla — la naranjilla, el lulo
• Nectarine — la nectarina
• Olive — la oliva, la aceituna
• Orange — la naranja
• Papaya — la papaya
• Passionfruit — la maracuyá, la parcha, la fruta de pasión
• Peach — el durazno, el melocotón
• Pear — la pera
• Persimmon — el caqui
• Pineapple — la piña, el ananá
• Plantain — el plátano
• Plum — la ciruela
• Pomegranate — la granada
• Prickly pear — la tuna, el higo chumbo
• Quince — el membrillo
• Raspberry — la frambuesa
• Strawberry — la fresa, la frutilla
• Tamarind — el tamarindo
• Tangerine — la mandarina, la tangerina
• Tomatillo — el tomatillo
• Tomato — el tomate
• Watermelon — la sandía

Tricky Fruit Names in Spanish

Many fruits have local or regional names that may not be understood outside the area. Also, the English and Spanish words for particular fruits may not always be an exact match, sometimes because two similar species of fruits may share a name. For example, what is known as un arándano in Spanish goes by several different names in English, such as huckleberry, bilberry, blueberry, and cranberry. Another common source of confusion is that a limón can refer to a lemon or a lime depending on the region.

Common Foods Made With Fruit

• Apple cider — la sidra sin alcohol
• Apple crisp, apple crumble — la manzana crujiente
• Apple pie — el pastel de manzana
• Compote — la compota
• Fruitcake — el pastel de fruta
• Fruit co*cktail — el cóctel de frutas
• Fruit salad — la ensalada de frutas
• Jam — la marmelada
• Juice — el jugo, el zumo
• Peach cobbler — el pastel de durazno, tarta de durazno
• Strawberry sundae — el sundae de fresa, el helado con fresas

Fruit Names English and Spanish Share

English and Spanish share the names of variousfruits for one of two reasons. Either the English name came from Spanish, or English and Spanish gained the name from a common source. There are no fruits on this list in which the Spanish derived from English, although it's likely that kiwi, a word from Maori, was adopted because of U.S. English influence.

Here are etymologies of several Spanish-derived fruit names we use in English:

• Papaya: Spanish picked up papaya from Arawak, an indigenous language of the West Indies, and it spread to English via the shipping industry.
• Pear: The English name for the fruit comes from the Latin pera, which is also what it's called in Spanish.
• Plantain: "Plantain" has two meanings: a fruit similar to a banana and a type of flat-leafed weed. Both are called plátano in Spanish. The words with the first meaning probably came to English via Spanish, which picked up the term from the West Indies, while the word with the second meaning came indirectly from Greek.
• Tomatillo: Tomatillo in Spanish is tomate with the diminutive suffix -illo. Other Spanish food words using this suffix include tortilla (omelet or tortilla, from torta, cake), mantequilla (butter, from manteca, lard or some types of butter), and bolillo (bread roll, related to bola, ball).
• Tomato: At one time, the tomato was called a "tomate" in English, the same as its Spanish name. The Spanish, in turn, came from Nahuatl, an indigenous Mexican language, which used the word tomatl. The tl ending is a very common noun ending in Nahuatl.

Sources for some of the other fruit names include Italian (cantalupo and "cantaloupe"), Latin (pera and "pear"), and Arabic (naranja and "orange").

Words for Fruit-Producing Plants

Although the words for "tree" and "bush" are árbol and arbusto, respectively, many plants that produce fruit have names related to the name of the fruit. Here are some of them:

• Apple tree — el manzano
• Blackberry bush — la zarza
• Cherry tree — el cerezo
• Grapevine — la vid, la parra
• Lemon tree — el limonero
• Orange tree — el naranjo
• Pear tree — el peral
• Tomato vine — la rama de tomate