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prettygoodwordacajou - n., the mahogany tree, and its timber; the cashew tree, also its nut.
Part of this is clear: taken from French around 1720, from the same word acajou that 20 years before was also borrowed as cashew; it in turn was borrowed from Portuguese acajú, from Tupi acajuba or akaʾiu, meaning the cashew -- Tupi being the best-known of a group of languages spoken on the coasts of Brazil. What is not clear is what mahogany has to do with this. Pronounced AK-uh-joo or AK-uh-zhoo, depending on how Francophone you're feeling.
---L.
Part of this is clear: taken from French around 1720, from the same word acajou that 20 years before was also borrowed as cashew; it in turn was borrowed from Portuguese acajú, from Tupi acajuba or akaʾiu, meaning the cashew -- Tupi being the best-known of a group of languages spoken on the coasts of Brazil. What is not clear is what mahogany has to do with this. Pronounced AK-uh-joo or AK-uh-zhoo, depending on how Francophone you're feeling.
---L.
