cerasee

English

Noun

cerasee (uncountable)

1. (Jamaica) bitter melon, Momordica charantia, from which a medicinal tea is made.
   • 1882, Daniel Morris, Cacao: How to Grow and how to Cure it, page 13:

     Cundeamor is derived from the Spanish name for the fruit of the Cerasee (Momordica Charantia) possessing a peculiar warted appearance.

   • 2007, Jacqueline Bishop, The River's Song: A Nove, page 161:

     She told me how easy it was to tell cerasee, the tiny pale yellow flowers on the vine and the small bright-orange fruits, and the seeds blood-red.

   • 2011, Ivelyn Harris, Healing Herbs of Jamaica, page 28:

     I told him to drink cerasee tea. That's what the village elders had always prescribed for colitis.

Jamaican Creole

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsʌɹsɪ/, /ˈsɜɹsɪ/
• Hyphenation: cera‧see

Noun

cerasee

1. bitter melon, cerasee

   Mi bwile cerasee bush and medina.

   I boil cerasee and medina herb.

   • 2016, Sylvia Gilfillian, The Road to Timnath: Di Ruod Tu Timnat (in English), →ISBN:

     “"Yu waahn dis mint or yu waahn cerasee?" […] ”

     Would you like mint tea or bitter melon? […]

Further reading

• Richard Allsopp, editor (1996), Dictionary of Caribbean English Usage, Kingston, Jamaica: University of the West Indies Press, published 2003, →ISBN, page 145