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pecan

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
See also: pekan

English

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a 68-year-old pecan tree, Carya illinoinensis
pecan nuts on a tree
a pecan nut
the edible portions of a pecan nut

Alternative forms

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Etymology

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Borrowed from French pacane and at first spelt paccan. The French word derives from an Algonquian word,[1] perhaps Miami (Illinois) pakani. Compare Cree pakan (“hard nut”), Ojibwe bagaan, Abenaki pagann, bagôn, pagôn (“nut; walnut, hazelnut”).

Pronunciation

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  • Hyphenation: pe‧can

Noun

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

Derived terms

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Translations

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References

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  1. ^ 2005, Webster's New College Dictionary II [1] →ISBN, page 829: [Algonquian paccan]
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 The Dialect Survey, and Joshua Katz's maps of it
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 “pecan”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
  4. ^ Claude E. Kantner, Variant Louisiana pronunciations of the word "pecan" (1944)
  5. ^ “pecan”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 "pecan" in the Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 2008, WordReference.com
  7. ^ Christopher Davies, Divided by a Common Language: A Guide to British and American English (2005-7)
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 1983, Gage Canadian Dictionary
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Katherine Barber, editor (2004), “pecan, noun.”, in The Canadian Oxford Dictionary, 2nd edition, Don Mills, Ont.: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 1145.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 2004, Australian Oxford Dictionary
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 2005, New Zealand Oxford Dictionary
  12. ^ Burkhard Dretzke, Modern British and American English pronunciation (2008)

Further reading

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Anagrams

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Galician

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Verb

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pecan

  1. third-person plural present indicative of pecar

Spanish

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Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˈpekan/ [ˈpe.kãn]
  • Rhymes: -ekan
  • Syllabification: pe‧can

Verb

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pecan

  1. third-person plural present indicative of pecar
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