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babassu (bah-buh-SOO) - n., a Brazilian palm tree with hard-shelled nuts yielding a valuable oil.
Dictionaries disagree on whether the species is called Orbignya phalerata, O. barbosiana, O. martiana, O. speciosa, or Attalea speciosa -- I suspect reflecting disagreement among botanists. The English word is more clear-cut: borrowed around 1920 from Brazilian Portugeuse babaçú, from the Tupi name for the tree, from ybá, fruit + guasu, large. Tupi being a native language from the northern coast which became a lingua franca throughout Brazil in the 16th and 17th centuries.
---L.
Dictionaries disagree on whether the species is called Orbignya phalerata, O. barbosiana, O. martiana, O. speciosa, or Attalea speciosa -- I suspect reflecting disagreement among botanists. The English word is more clear-cut: borrowed around 1920 from Brazilian Portugeuse babaçú, from the Tupi name for the tree, from ybá, fruit + guasu, large. Tupi being a native language from the northern coast which became a lingua franca throughout Brazil in the 16th and 17th centuries.
---L.
