A small tree or shrub found in tropical regions, particularly in Central and South America, bearing edible fruits.
This word comes from a Mesoamerican or Caribbean indigenous language, specifically related to local names for the plant. The term entered English through botanical documentation of New World flora.
Many plant names we use in English come directly from indigenous languages of the Americas—like 'guava' and 'cacao'—because Native peoples had been cultivating these plants long before Europeans arrived.
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