2017-02-23

Entry tags:

Thursday word: babassu

babassu (bah-buh-SOO) - n., any of several Brazilian feather palm trees (genus Orbignya) with hard-shelled, edible nuts that yield an oil used in making soap, margarine, and so on and as a biofuel.


The oil also being called babassu. From Portuguese babassu (now spelled babaçu), from Tupi babassú or ibabassú, from ibá, fruit + guasu, large.

The 747 successfully flew using fuel derived from a mixture of babassu and coconut oil.

(This did happen: an experiment by Virgin Airlines.)

---L.