Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Any of various other palms in the genera Areca and Dypsis.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Any member of the genus Areca of about fifty species of single-stemmed palms in the family Arecaceae, found in humid tropical forests.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Portuguese, from Malayalam aṭekka, areca nut, from Tamil aṭaikkāy.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Via Portuguese from Malayalam അടയ്ക്ക (áḍekka)

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Examples

  • The areca is a palm of great elegance; it rises to a height of about eighty feet, and a rich feathery crest adorns the summit.

    Eight Years' Wanderings in Ceylon Samuel White Baker 1857

  • News at Eleven: These poems by Samuel Beckett need to be read three-dimensionally: that is, turned slowly until the variety of each poem's facets bring pleasure, if not always sense: "grave suave singing silk/stoop to the black firmament of areca/rain on the bamboos flowers of smoke alley of willows"--"areca" being a palm producing astringent nuts excremental activity is a Beckett motif.

    News at Eleven: These poems [by Samuel Beckett] need Rus Bowden 2010

  • News at Eleven: These poems by Samuel Beckett need to be read three-dimensionally: that is, turned slowly until the variety of each poem's facets bring pleasure, if not always sense: "grave suave singing silk/stoop to the black firmament of areca/rain on the bamboos flowers of smoke alley of willows"--"areca" being a palm producing astringent nuts excremental activity is a Beckett motif.

    Archive 2010-01-01 Rus Bowden 2010

  • To capture the spirit of Mexico, I lined the aisle with large urns on pedestals filled with tight clusters of roses and large areca palm leaves that added color, texture, and drama.

    My Fair Wedding David Tutera 2011

  • To capture the spirit of Mexico, I lined the aisle with large urns on pedestals filled with tight clusters of roses and large areca palm leaves that added color, texture, and drama.

    My Fair Wedding David Tutera 2011

  • Then you take chopped up betel nut (or areca nut, which is similar to nutmeg in hardness and texture) and fold the leaf over the the ingredients.

    Trying Food in India « Colleen Anderson 2009

  • Not to mention, recent studies have shown that there is fairly high carcinogenic properties in the areca nut.

    Traveling in India: Betel Nut Adventures « Colleen Anderson 2010

  • To capture the spirit of Mexico, I lined the aisle with large urns on pedestals filled with tight clusters of roses and large areca palm leaves that added color, texture, and drama.

    My Fair Wedding David Tutera 2011

  • The areca nut is supposedto have mild narcoticproperties that can sharpen clarity.

    Traveling in India: Betel Nut Adventures « Colleen Anderson 2010

  • To capture the spirit of Mexico, I lined the aisle with large urns on pedestals filled with tight clusters of roses and large areca palm leaves that added color, texture, and drama.

    My Fair Wedding David Tutera 2011

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