Q: What is a coconut? Is it a fruit or a nut? What makes it whatever it is? Jacob Moon, New Wilmington, PA

AskFN: Officially, a coconut is a fruit -- specifically, the fruit of the coconut palm tree, a specific type of palm tree. There's a theory that the coconut got its name from the Portuguese word for "monkey" -- macaco, sometimes shortened to coco -- as the three eyes in the hairy brown shell look something like the face of a monkey (yeah, it's kind of a stretch). The "nut" part is harder to explain, but it probably comes from the hard exterior.

The coconut meat (the white part you eat) is actually part of the seed. Young coconut has a soft, almost savory meat. As the coconut matures, the meat becomes sweeter and firmer.

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