From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
papaya
n 1: tropical American shrub or small tree having huge deeply
palmately cleft leaves and large oblong yellow fruit [syn:
papaya, papaia, pawpaw, papaya tree, melon tree,
Carica papaya]
2: large oval melon-like tropical fruit with yellowish flesh
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
papaya \pa*pa"ya\, n. [Prob. from the native name in the West
Indies; cf. Sp. papayo papaw, papaya the fruit of the papaw.]
1. (Bot.) A tree (Carica Papaya) of tropical America,
belonging to the order {Passiflore[ae]}; called also
papaw and pawpaw. It has a soft, spongy stem, eighteen
or twenty feet high, crowned with a tuft of large,
long-stalked, palmately lobed leaves. The milky juice of
the plant is said to have the property of making meat
tender.
[1913 Webster +PJC]
2. The fruit of the papaya tree; it is a dull orange-colored,
melon-shaped fruit, which is eaten both raw and cooked or
pickled. The fruit contains papain, a protease.
[1913 Webster + PJC]