Biriba

/bɪˈriːbə/ noun

Definition

A tropical South American tree that produces edible fruit; the wood is used for lumber.

Etymology

From Tupi language (indigenous South America) 'biribá.' The word traveled to English through Portuguese colonial trade networks in Brazil and surrounding regions.

Kelly Says

Biriba wood is so hard and dense that it was historically used to make tool handles and bowling pins—it's one of many tropical hardwoods that indigenous peoples identified and used long before Western science documented them.

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