cashew

[ kash-oo, kuh-shoo ]

/ ˈkæʃ u, kəˈʃu /

a tree, Anacardium occidentale, native to tropical America, having milky juice, simple, leathery leaves, and yellowish-pink flowers in open clusters.

Also called cashew nut. the small, kidney-shaped, edible nut of this tree.

Origin of cashew

1695–1705; < Portuguese cajú, aphetic variant of acajú < Tupi akaʾiu

The fluid contained between the kernel and shell of the cashew nut.

Cooley's Practical Receipts, Volume II |Arnold Cooley
In some such way as vultures concentrate upon carrion, so news of the cashew sweets had passed through the jungle.

Jungle Peace |William Beebe
The fruit of the cashew is not palatable, but its juice, when distilled, produces a strong intoxicating spirit.

The Pearl of India |Maturin M. Ballou
But all the information we could glean was that they were called French cashew.

Jungle Peace |William Beebe

Why are the varieties of the cashew tribe, called varnish-trees?

The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction |Various

cashew

/ (ˈkæʃuː, kæˈʃuː) /

a tropical American anacardiaceous evergreen tree, Anacardium occidentale, bearing kidney-shaped nuts that protrude from a fleshy receptacle

Also called: cashew nut the edible nut of this tree

C18: from Portuguese cajú, from Tupi acajú