beteln.
/ˈbiːt(ə)l/ 1.
a. The leaf of a plant, which in South Asia is wrapped round a few parings of the areca nut (see sense 2) and a little shell lime, and chewed as a masticatory.
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the world > food and drink > food > fruit and vegetables > pods, seeds, leaves, or flowers > [noun] > betel or coca leaf
vitele1582
betel1585
paan1598
coca1616
betel-leaf1681
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular medicinal plants or parts > yielding masticatory products > [noun] > betel plant > betel leaf
betel1585
paan1598
1585 H. Llwyd tr. Pope John XXI Treasury of Health (new ed.) sig. N iij Take of Cloves..of bettels, of Galingale.
1598 W. Phillip tr. J. H. van Linschoten Disc. Voy. E. & W. Indies i. xxxi. 61/1 They doe nothing, but sit and chawe leaues or hearbes, called Bettele, with chalke and a certaine fruite called Arrequa.
a1626 F. Bacon Sylva Sylvarum (1627) §738 Betell is but champed in the Mouth, with a little Lime.
1699 W. Dampier Voy. & Descr. i. ii. 24 The Betle of Tonquin is said to be the best in India.
1851 R. F. Burton Goa 106 The Gentoo will..chew his betel, and squirt the scarlet juice all over the floor.
1871 S. Mateer Travancore 97 Betel is the dark green heart-shaped leaf of a kind of climbing pepper plant, which grows like hops on poles.
b. The shrubby evergreen plant (Piper betle or Chavica betel, family Piperaceæ) which yields this leaf. Also called betel-pepper, betel-vine.
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the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular medicinal plants or parts > yielding masticatory products > [noun] > betel plant
betel1553
betel-tree1681
sirih1779
1553 R. Eden tr. S. Münster Treat. Newe India sig. Ei The herbe called Betola.
1606 E. Scott Exact Disc. East Indians sig. Nij A certaine hearbe called bettaile.
1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues at Tambu The bastard Pepper plant called Bettle or Betre.
1633 H. Cogan tr. F. M. Pinto Voy. & Adventures (1663) 263 Bethel, an herb whose leaves..these Pagans are accustomed to chaw.
1859 R. F. Burton Lake Regions Central Afr. in Jrnl. Royal Geogr. Soc. 29 47 (note) The betel pepper..resembles the piper betel, or betel vine of India.
1866 J. Lindley & T. Moore Treasury Bot. I. 88 These nuts are rolled up with a little lime in leaves of the betle-pepper.
c. Hence attributive and in other combinations, as betel-box, betel-carrier, betel-server; betel-leaf, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > fruit and vegetables > pods, seeds, leaves, or flowers > [noun] > betel or coca leaf
vitele1582
betel1585
paan1598
coca1616
betel-leaf1681
1681 R. Knox Hist. Relation Ceylon 18 The Tree that bears the Betel-leaf..growes like Ivy.
1779 T. Forrest Voy. New Guinea 14 The beetle leaf, which all East Indians chew.
2. betel nut n. the nut or fruit of the Areca Palm (see areca n.); so misnamed (by Europeans) because it is chewed with the betel leaf. Hence betel-nut-tree, betel-tree, Areca Catechu. betel palm n. (also betelnut palm) the Areca palm, Areca catechu, from which the ‘betel nut’ or areca nut is obtained.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > non-British trees or shrubs > palm trees > [noun] > areca palms
areca1588
faufel1594
drunken date1597
pinang1606
cabbage tree1661
betel-tree1681
mountain cabbage1681
cabbage palm1770
cabbage palmetto1802
betel palm1861
catechu palm1866
supari1904
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular medicinal plants or parts > yielding masticatory products > [noun] > betel plant
betel1553
betel-tree1681
sirih1779
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular medicinal plants or parts > yielding masticatory products > [noun] > areca palm, nut, or leaf
areca1588
faufel1594
drunken date1597
supari1598
pinang1606
betel nut1681
monkey-face1700
betel palm1861
catechu palm1866
the world > food and drink > food > fruit and vegetables > fruit or a fruit > nut > [noun] > chewing nuts
areca1588
betel nut1681
cola1795
1681 R. Knox Hist. Relation Ceylon 97 Betle-nuts, 4000 nine pence Currant price.
1697 W. Dampier New Voy. around World xi. 318 The Betel-tree grows like the Cabbage-tree... On the top of the Tree among the Branches, the Betel-nut grows.
1698 J. Fryer New Acct. E.-India & Persia 40 Beetle..rises..to twelve or fourteen Feeth heighth... The Natives chew it with Chinam..and Arach, a Convolvulus with a Leaf like..Ivy.
1772 Ld. Clive in Weekly Mag. 117/2 The privilege of free trade in beetle-nut being taken away.
1858 E. Lankester & W. B. Carpenter Veg. Physiol. (new ed.) §370 Betel-nuts are chewed by the natives of Hindoostan.
1861 R. Bentley Man. Bot. ii. iii. 684 The Catechu or Betel Nut Palm.
1875 Encycl. Brit. III. 616/2 The betel nut is the fruit of the Areca or betel palm, Areca Catechu.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1887; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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