Abuta

/ɑːˈbuːtə/ noun

Definition

A tropical South American vine with poisonous properties, sometimes used medicinally.

Etymology

From Tupi (an indigenous South American language), the native name for a particular plant species, entering English through natural history and botanical study.

Kelly Says

Plant names give us one of the clearest windows into how English absorbed vocabulary from indigenous peoples worldwide—'abuta' traveled from the Amazon into botanical texts and eventually English dictionaries.

Related Words

Explore More Words

Get the Word Orb API

Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.