'Phoenix dactylifera' definitions:

Definition of 'Phoenix dactylifera'

noun

Tall tropical feather palm tree native to Syria bearing sweet edible fruit [syn: date palm, Phoenix dactylifera]

From: GCIDE

Date \Date\, n.[F. datte, L. dactylus, fr. Gr. ?, prob. not the same word as da`ktylos finger, but of Semitic origin.] (Bot.) The fruit of the date palm; also, the date palm itself. [1913 Webster]
Note: This fruit is somewhat in the shape of an olive, containing a soft pulp, sweet, esculent, and wholesome, and inclosing a hard kernel. [1913 Webster]
Date palm, or Date tree (Bot.), the genus of palms which bear dates, of which common species is {Ph[oe]nix dactylifera}. See Illust.
Date plum (Bot.), the fruit of several species of Diospyros, including the American and Japanese persimmons, and the European lotus (Diospyros Lotus).
Date shell, or Date fish (Zool.), a bivalve shell, or its inhabitant, of the genus Pholas, and allied genera. See Pholas. [1913 Webster]