man·za·ni·ta (m?n?z?-n??t?)n. Any of several evergreen shrubs or small trees of the genus Arctostaphylos of the heath family, native to the Pacific coast of North America, especially A. manzanita, having white or pink flowers in drooping panicles and red berrylike fruit.[Spanish, diminutive of manzana, apple; see manchineel.]American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.manzanita (?mænz??ni?t?) n (Botany) an evergreen shrub of western North AmericaCollins English Dictionary ? Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014man?za?ni?ta (?mæn z??ni t?) n., pl. -tas. any of several W North American shrubs belonging to the genus Arctostaphylos, of the heath family. [1840?50, Amer.;