The coconut tree (Cocos nucifera) is a member of the palm tree family

The coconut tree (Cocos nucifera) is a member of the palm tree family (Arecaceae) and the only known living species of the genus Cocos.[1] The term "coconut" (or the archaic "cocoanut")[2] can refer to the whole coconut palm, the seed, or the fruit, which botanically is a drupe, not a nut. The term is derived from the 16th-century Portuguese and Spanish word coco, meaning "head" or "skull" after the three indentations on the coconut shell that resemble facial features.