The Collaborative International Dictionary
Palm \Palm\, n. [AS. palm, L. palma; -- so named fr. the leaf resembling a hand. See 1st Palm, and cf. Pam.]
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(Bot.) Any endogenous tree of the order Palm[ae] or Palmace[ae]; a palm tree.
Note: Palms are perennial woody plants, often of majestic size. The trunk is usually erect and rarely branched, and has a roughened exterior composed of the persistent bases of the leaf stalks. The leaves are borne in a terminal crown, and are supported on stout, sheathing, often prickly, petioles. They are usually of great size, and are either pinnately or palmately many-cleft. There are about one thousand species known, nearly all of them growing in tropical or semitropical regions. The wood, petioles, leaves, sap, and fruit of many species are invaluable in the arts and in domestic economy. Among the best known are the date palm, the cocoa palm, the fan palm, the oil palm, the wax palm, the palmyra, and the various kinds called cabbage palm and palmetto.
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A branch or leaf of the palm, anciently borne or worn as a symbol of victory or rejoicing.
A great multitude . . . stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palme in their hands.
--Rev. vii. 9. -
Hence: Any symbol or token of superiority, success, or triumph; also, victory; triumph; supremacy. ``The palm of martyrdom.'' --Chaucer. So get the start of the majestic world And bear the palm alone. --Shak. Molucca palm (Bot.), a labiate herb from Asia ( Molucella l[ae]vis), having a curious cup-shaped calyx. Palm cabbage, the terminal bud of a cabbage palm, used as food. Palm cat (Zo["o]l.), the common paradoxure. Palm crab (Zo["o]l.), the purse crab. Palm oil, a vegetable oil, obtained from the fruit of several species of palms, as the African oil palm ( El[ae]is Guineensis), and used in the manufacture of soap and candles. See El[ae]is. Palm swift (Zo["o]l.), a small swift ( Cypselus Batassiensis) which frequents the palmyra and cocoanut palms in India. Its peculiar nest is attached to the leaf of the palmyra palm. Palm toddy. Same as Palm wine. Palm weevil (Zo["o]l.), any one of mumerous species of very large weevils of the genus Rhynchophorus. The larv[ae] bore into palm trees, and are called palm borers, and grugru worms. They are considered excellent food. Palm wine, the sap of several species of palms, especially, in India, of the wild date palm ( Ph[oe]nix sylvestrix), the palmyra, and the Caryota urens. When fermented it yields by distillation arrack, and by evaporation jaggery. Called also palm toddy. Palm worm, or Palmworm. (Zo["o]l.)
The larva of a palm weevil.
A centipede.
Wiktionary
n. The alcoholic drink toddy.
Wikipedia
Palm wine is an alcoholic beverage created from the sap of various species of palm tree such as the palmyra, date palms, and coconut palms. It is known by various names in different regions and is common in various parts of Asia, Africa the Caribbean and South America.
Palm wine production by small holders and individual farmers may promote conservation as palm trees become a source of regular household income that may economically be worth more than the value of timber sold.
Palm wine is known as matango, mbuh, tumbu liquor, white stuff in Cameroon; emu, nkwu, oguro in Nigeria; poyo in Sierra Leone, nsamba in the Democratic Republic of the Congo; nsafufuo in Ghana; kallu in South India; Htan Yay (ထန်းရည်) in Myanmar; tuak in North Sumatra, Indonesia; mnazi in the Mijikenda language of Kenya; goribon ( Rungus) in Sabah, Borneo; vino de coyol in Central America; and tubâ in the Philippines, Borneo and Mexico. In the Philippines, tubâ and "Kallu" in Tamil refers both to the freshly harvested, sweetish cloudy-white sap and the one with the red lauan-tree tan bark colorant. In Leyte, the red tubâ is aged with the tan bark for up to six months to two years, until it gets dark red and tapping its glass container gives a sound that does not suddenly stop. This type of tubâ is called bahal (for tubâ aged this way for up to six months) and bahalina (for tubâ aged thus for up to a year or more). Toddy is also consumed in Sri Lanka and Myanmar, where in Sri Lanka it is known as thal ra, kithul ra, or pol ra according to the plant used to make toddy.
Palm wine may refer to:
- Palm wine, an alcoholic beverage
- Palm-wine music, a West African musical genre
- The Palm-Wine Drinkard, a book by the Nigerian writer Amos Tutuola
Usage examples of "palm wine".
She sat down at her customary place at the bar and took a swallow of palm wine.
Flynn full of palm wine, and Sebastian full of fever although it was impossible to distinguish the symptoms of their separate disorders.
He enjoyed the visits from the camel-riding nomads, going out to drink palm wine with them in their tents, the slow gestures, silences, words doled out as carefully as water.
Here, young unemployed men passed the time drinking beer, palm wine, and medicinally strengthened gin while gambling on pinball games, constructed out of rotting wood and patterns of rusted nails arranged to steer the ball.
Women, usually, carrying the world on their heads: a huge glass demijohn full of palm wine, with a calabash bowl perched on top like an upside-down hat.
He took a deep breath of the clean, clear air, and felt as intoxicated as if he had drunk three jars of palm wine.
From the noise and music and cheering of the procession, from plentiful libations of sweet yellow palm wine.