a medium-sized tropical  tree  in the family Sapindaceae . The fruit produced by the tree is also known as "rambutan." The name rambutan is derived from the  Malay  wordrambutan, meaning "hairy":  rambut the Malay word for "hair", a reference to the numerous hairy protuberances of the fruit, together with the noun-building  suffix  -an.  Rambutan trees