Why is a pineapple called a pineapple?
Here is an excerpt which I hope answers thae question: I like your friend’s theory about Hawaiians “pining” (from the Latin “poena,” pain) for their homeland, although pineapples are, in fact, native to South America. But the “pine cone” explanation you’ve heard is essentially the truth. When “pineapple” first appeared in English in the late 14th century, it referred to what we now call the “pine cone” or, a bit later, to the seeds (“pine nuts”) of the pine tree. During this period “apple” was indeed applied to nearly any sort of fruit, so “pineapple” meant simply the “fruit” (so to speak) of the pine tree. When European explorers were introduced to Ananas comosus in the Caribbean, its shape reminded them of a “pineapple” from a pine tree, so, in the 17th century, they applied that name to the new fruit. That meant, of course, that English had two “pineapples,” so the one from the pine tree was gradually re-christened a “pine cone.
