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pecan

 - 3 dictionary results

pe⋅can

[pi-kahn, -kan, pee-kan]
–noun
1. a tall hickory tree, Carya illinoinensis, of the southern U.S. and Mexico, cultivated for its oval, smooth-shelled, edible nuts: the state tree of Texas.
2. a nut of this tree.

Origin:
1765–75, Americanism; < Mississippi Valley F pacane < Illinois pakani < Proto-Algonquian *paka⋅n- nut (deriv. of *pake⋅- crack nuts)
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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pe·can   (pĭ-kän', -kān', pē'kān)   
n.  
  1. A deciduous tree (Carya illinoinensis) of the central and southern United States, having deeply furrowed bark, pinnately compound leaves, and edible nuts.

  2. The smooth, thin-shelled oval nut of this tree.


[North American French pacane, from Illinois pakani.]
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

pecan 
1712, paccan "the pecan tree," or a related hickory, from Fr. pacane, from Algonquian (cf. Cree pakan "hard-shelled nut," Ojibwa bagaan, Abnaki pagann).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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