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nopales (noh-PAUL-es) - pl.n., the young pads of the prickly pear catcus, used in cooking.
Note that while there is a singular form, nopal, it refers to the plant only -- the pads properly are always treated as a plural noun. The definition elides over which species of prickly pear are edible, which is just as well as the naming of that unruly genus is far from settled. Borrowed in the 1720s (yes, that long ago!) from Mexican Spanish, from nopal, prickly pear, borrowed from Nahuatl nÅpalli.
---L.
Note that while there is a singular form, nopal, it refers to the plant only -- the pads properly are always treated as a plural noun. The definition elides over which species of prickly pear are edible, which is just as well as the naming of that unruly genus is far from settled. Borrowed in the 1720s (yes, that long ago!) from Mexican Spanish, from nopal, prickly pear, borrowed from Nahuatl nÅpalli.
---L.
