pecan

English

Wikipedia

Alternative forms

• (dated, possibly obsolete) paccan, peccan

Etymology

Borrowed into English from the French word pacane and at first spelt paccan. The French word derives from an Algonquian word, perhaps Miami (Illinois) pakani. Compare Cree pakan (“hard nut”), Ojibwe bagaan, Abenaki pagann, bagôn, pagôn (“nut; walnut, hazelnut”).

a 68-year-old pecan tree, Carya illinoinensis

pecan nuts on a tree

a pecan nut

the edible portions of a pecan nut

Pronunciation

Pronunciation

IPA: [ˌpi(ː)ˈkɒːn] (most common US pronunciation; common on the West Coast, in the Eastern US except the coastal Southeast; more common near the Great Lakes and in New England than in the other areas it is found) Rhymes: -ɒn IPA: [pɪ.kɒːn], [ˌpɪˈkɒːn] (second-most common US pronunciation; common on the West Coast, in the Eastern US except the coastal Southeast; more common in New England than in the other areas it is found, also used in the UK) IPA: [ˈpiːˌkæn] (third-most common US pronunciation; the most common pronunciation in New England and the coastal Southeast, also used in the UK) Rhymes: -æn IPA: [ˈpiːˌkɒ(ː)n] (fourth-most common US pronunciation; found in New England and the Upper Midwest) IPA: [ˌpi(ː)ˈkæn] (fifth-most common US pronunciation; found mainly in New England) IPA: [pɪk.æn] (a pronunciation found almost exclusively in coastal New England, and not the most common pronunciation there) IPA: [ˌpəˈkɔːn], [ˌpɪˈkɔːn] (a pronunciation found in Louisiana) IPA: [ˌpəˈkɒ(ː)n] (an unstressed US pronunciation) IPA: [ˌpɪˈkæn] (a pronunciation used in the UK, also used by some US speakers) IPA: [ˈpiːˌkən] (a pronunciation used in the UK)

Noun

pecan (plural pecans)

1. A deciduous tree Carya illinoinensis of the central and southern United States, having deeply furrowed bark, pinnately compound leaves, and edible nuts.
   • 1885, Howard Seely, A Ranchman's stories, page 154:

     And away on the farther bank, a motte of huge pecans, standing like giant sentinels over the dwarfed landscape, filled the eye with remote vistas in their shady, twilight aisles. It was very still.

   • 1978 April, in the Texas Monthly, page 51:

     Within its ornamental fence, the 8/10-acre property includes several of the largest live oaks in the area — plus huge pecans and stately magnolias.

2. A smooth, thin-shelled, edible oval nut of this tree.
   • 1982, Beth Henley, Crimes of the heart, page 17:

     MEG. […] (Meg takes out two pecans and tries to open them by cracking them together.) Come on ... Crack, you demons! Crack!

     LENNY. We have a nutcracker!

     MEG. (Trying with her teeth.) Ah, where's the sport in a nutcracker? Where's the challenge?

3. A half of the edible portion of the inside of this nut.
   • 2005, in The Condensed Encyclopedia of Healing Foods (Joseph Pizzorno, Lara Pizzorno; Atria Books, ISBN 978-0-7434-7402-3):

     Each shell contains two pecans, usually plump and oblong in shape, although some varieties are round or pointed.

Translations

a deciduous tree Carya illinoinensis

• Finnish: pekaanipähkinäpuu (fi)
• French: pacanier (fr) m
• German: Pekannussbaum (de) m
• Portuguese: nogueira-pecã (pt) f
• Russian: пекан (ru) (pekán) m 

• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: пекан (sh) m

  Latin: pekan (sh)

• Spanish: pacano (es) m, pecán (es) m, pacana (es) f
• Swahili: mpekani (sw)

the nut of this tree

• Cherokee: ᏐᎯ ᎠᏂᏅᎯᏓ (chr) (sohi aninvhida)
• Finnish: pekaanipähkinä (fi)
• French: noix de pécan (fr) f, pacane (fr) f
• Georgian: please add this translation if you can
• German: Pekannuss (de) f
• Portuguese: pecã (pt) f
• Russian: пекан (ru) (pekán) m 

• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: пекан (sh) m

  Latin: pekan (sh)

• Spanish: nuez pecana (es) f, pecana (es) f, pacana (es) f, pecán (es) m, nuez de la isla (es) f, nuez encarcelada (es) f
• Swahili: pekani (sw)

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Spanish

Verb

pecan (infinitive pecar)

1. Second-person plural (ustedes) present indicative form of pecar.
2. Third-person plural (ellos, ellas, also used with ustedes^?) present indicative form of pecar.