Cashew /ˈkæʃ.uː/

Understanding the root of the words has always been something that my husband and I enjoyed, especially when it has an interface with another language. Studying etymology also helps to develop English language skills.

For example, let’s talk about cashew. In North America people are not familiar with the whole cashew fruit, named Cashew Apple. Here, most people only know the cashew nut. But the fruit can be squeezed for juice. 

It is a native specie from Central and South America. The word cashew derives from Portuguese language, which derives from from Tupi akajú. It means “nut that produces itself”. And the first known use was in 1598. (Merriam-Webster Inc.)

I think the English word seems to originate from an English native speaker trying to say the word in Portuguese, :kachu/, hey?

Anyway, it is a English word that derives from Portuguese. 

Another curiosity, the world’s largest cashew tree is located in Brazil, Rio Grande do Norte. It covers an area between 7,300 and 8,400 square metres, and it is estimated to be more than a thousand years old. There are more then 18,000 posts on Instagram with the hashtag  #maiorcajueurodomundo

https://guia.melhoresdestinos.com.br

By the way, my mother-in-law makes a delicious cashew Caipirinha! It is a drink made of cachaça (a sugar cane spirit), sugar, lime and ice. My mother-in-law’s variation adds cashew to it and it is delicious!