Definitions

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

  • noun Any of several tropical and subtropical palms of the Americas having fan-shaped leaves, especially one of the genus Sabal, such as the cabbage palm.
  • noun Leaf strips of any of these plants, used in weaving.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Any one of several fan-leafed palms of different genera.
  • noun Same as silk-top palmetto.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Bot.) A name given to palms of several genera and species growing in the West Indies and the Southern United States. In the United States, the name is applied especially to the Chamærops Palmetto, or Sabal Palmetto, the cabbage tree of Florida and the Carolinas. See Cabbage tree, under cabbage.
  • noun the West Indian Sabal umbraculifera, the trunk of which, when hollowed, is used for water pipes, etc. The leaves are used for thatching, and for making hats, ropes, etc.
  • noun Sabal serrulata, a native of Georgia, South Carolina, and Florida. The nearly impassable jungle which it forms is called palmetto scrub.

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

  • noun botany Two closely related genera of New World palms, of the family Arecaceae; (a) Serenoa repens or the saw palmetto is the only species of its genus; it has certain medicinal uses; (b) Sabul, represented by about 15 species, some known commonly as palmettos, others as fan palms.
  • noun A native or resident of the American state of South Carolina (female: Palmetta).
  • adjective Of or pertaining to a palmetto palm.
  • adjective Of or pertaining the the US state of South Carolina, as the Palmetto State.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun any of several low-growing palms with fan-shaped leaves

Etymologies

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

[Spanish palmito, diminutive of palma, palm tree, from Latin; see palm.]

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word palmetto.

Examples

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.