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mescal

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mes⋅cal

  [me-skal]
Use mescal in a Sentence
–noun
1. an intoxicating beverage distilled from the fermented juice of certain species of agave.
2. any agave yielding this spirit.
3. Also called peyote. either of two species of spineless, dome-shaped cactus, Lophophora williamsii or L. diffusa, of Texas and northern Mexico, yielding the hallucinogen peyote.
Origin:
1695–1705, Americanism; < MexSp mescal, mezcal, mexcal < Nahuatl mexcalli intoxicant distilled from agave (perh. equiv. to me(tl) maguey + (i)xcalli something cooked)
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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ma·guey   (mə-gā', māg'wā)   
n.   pl. ma·gueys

  1. Any of various American plants of the genus Agave, especially the century plant. Also called mescal.

  2. Any of various plants of the related genus Furcraea.

  3. The fiber obtained from any of these plants.


[Spanish, of Cariban origin.]
mes·cal   (měs-kāl')   
n.  

  1. See peyote.

    1. A Mexican liquor distilled from the fermented juice of certain species of agave.

    2. A food prepared by cooking the fleshy leaf base and trunk of certain agaves.

  3. See maguey.


[American Spanish, from Nahuatl mexcalli, mescal liquor : metl, maguey plant + perhaps ixca, xca, to bake.]
pe·yo·te   (pā-ō'tē)   
n.  

  1. A spineless, dome-shaped cactus (Lophophora williamsii) native to Mexico and the southwest United States, having buttonlike tubercles that are chewed fresh or dry as a narcotic drug by certain Native American peoples. Also called mescal.

  2. See mescal button.

  3. See mescaline.


[American Spanish, from Nahuatl peyotl.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

mescal 
1702, "plant of the genus Agave," found in deserts of Mexico and southwestern U.S., esp. the American aloe, or maguey plant, from Mex.Sp., from Nahuatl (Aztec) mexcalli "fermented drink made from agave," from metl "agave" + ixcalli "stew."Meaning "intoxicating liquor from fermented juice of the agave" is attested from 1828. Also the name of a small desert cactus (peyote) found in northern Mexico and southern Texas.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: mes·cal
Pronunciation: me-'skal, m&-
Function: noun
1 : a small cactus of the genus Lophophora (L. williamsii)with rounded stems covered with jointed tubercles that are used as a stimulant and antispasmodic especially among the Mexican Indians
2 a : a usually colorless Mexican liquordistilled especially from the central leaves of any of various fleshy-leaved agaves b : a plant from which mescal is produced
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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