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Today it means

cashew

a curved, edible nut from a tropical tree

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Where does the word "cashew" come from? It comes from Tupi acajú, passing through Portuguese before entering English (1700s).

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Where does the word "cashew" come from? It comes from Tupi acajú, passing through Portuguese before entering English (1700s).

Cashew’s story begins in Tupi: acajú meant “cashew.” The Tupi name for the tree and its nut. By 1500s-1600s, the word had taken hold in Portuguese as caju. Portuguese traders carried the tree from Brazil to India and East Africa in the 1500s. It reached English by 1700s as cashew. Adapted from the Portuguese form. Today, cashew means a curved, edible nut from a tropical tree.

  1. Stage 1 · Tupi · pre-1500s acajú "cashew", the Tupi name for the tree and its nut.
  2. Stage 2 · Portuguese · 1500s-1600s caju "cashew", Portuguese traders carried the tree from Brazil to India and East Africa in the 1500s.
  3. Stage 3 · English · 1700s cashew "the cashew nut", adapted from the Portuguese form.

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