The Collaborative International Dictionary
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.
Note: This fruit is somewhat in the shape of an olive, containing a soft pulp, sweet, esculent, and wholesome, and inclosing a hard kernel.
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 (Zo["o]l.), a bivalve shell, or its inhabitant, of the genus Pholas, and allied gener
See Pholas.
Usage examples of "phoenix dactylifera".
Perhaps you mean the sweet, oblong, edible fruit of the date palm, a tree named phoenix dactylifera in your scientific lexicon.