Wordnet 3.0
NOUN (1)
1.
a proteolytic enzyme obtained from the unripe papaya;
used as a meat tenderizer;
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
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]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Papain \Pa*pa"in\, n. [From Papaw.] (Physiol. Chem.)
A proteolytic ferment, like trypsin, present in the juice of
the green fruit of the papaw (Carica Papaya) of tropical
America.
[1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
papain
n 1: a proteolytic enzyme obtained from the unripe papaya; used
as a meat tenderizer