# agave
## English
### Etymology

Borrowed from Ancient Greek Ἀγαυή (Agauḗ, “Agave”), from ἀγαυός (agauós, “noble, illustrious”).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /əˈɡɑːveɪ/, /əˈɡeɪviː/
* Audio (Southern England):(file)
* Rhymes: -eɪvi

### Noun

agave (plural agaves)
* Any plant in the large, variable genus Agave: succulent plants, commonly armed with formidable prickles; they flower at maturity after several years, and generally die thereafter; large species, such as the maguey or century plant, (Agave americana), produce gigantic inflorescences. Several are of economic importance as sources of fibre such as sisal, and alcoholic beverages such as tequila.
** 1895, J[ohn] W[esley] Powell, chapter I, in Canyons of the Colorado, Meadville, PA: Flood & Vincent; republished as The Exploration of the Colorado River and Its Canyons, New York: Dover, 1961, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 22:On the mountains a few junipers and piñons are found, and cactuses, agave, and yuccas, low, fleshy plants with bayonets and thorns.
** 1893 Charles Richards Dodge, A Report on the Leaf Fibers of the United States. Pub: Govt. print. office Washington
    The work of cutting the leaves, even from these isolated plants, was in the nature of an ordeal. Every member of the party took a knife and attacked the thicket, no one escaping the experience of bleeding hands and arms and of more or less injured clothing. If there is any place where strong language is halfway excusable it is in a thicket of 'Agave' decipiens.
** 1998, Octavia E. Butler, Parable of the Talents, HEADLINE PUBLISHING GROUP (2019), pages 25–26:It was one of the large, vicious varieties of agave, each individual plant an upturned rosette of stiff, fibrous, fleshy leaves, some of them over a meter long on the big parent plants.
    Synonym: century plant

#### Usage notes

Commonly confused with the unrelated genus Aloe, even referred to as "American Aloe".

#### Derived terms

* butterfly agave
* coast agave
* Goldman agave
* Shaw's agave

#### Translations
### Further reading

* Agave on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
* Agave on Wikispecies.Wikispecies
* Agave on Wikimedia Commons.Wikimedia Commons
* agave at USDA Plants database
* aloe
* maguey

## Danish
### Etymology

From New Latin Agave, from Ancient Greek Ἀγαυή (Agauḗ), name of one of the daughters of Cadmus, from ἀγαυός (agauós, “noble, illustrious”).

### Noun

agave c (singular definite agaven, plural indefinite agaver)
* agave

#### Declension
### Further reading

* “agave” in Den Danske Ordbog

## French
### Etymology

From New Latin Agave, from Ancient Greek Ἀγαυή (Agauḗ), name of one of the daughters of Cadmus, from ἀγαυός (agauós, “noble, illustrious”).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /a.ɡav/
* Audio:(file)

### Noun

agave m (plural agaves)
* agave

### Further reading

* “agave”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

## Italian
### Etymology

From New Latin Agave, from Ancient Greek Ἀγαυή (Agauḗ), name of one of the daughters of Cadmus, from ἀγαυός (agauós, “noble, illustrious”).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈa.ɡa.ve/
* Rhymes: -aɡave
* Hyphenation: à‧ga‧ve

### Noun

agave f (plural agavi)
* agave

## Portuguese
### Etymology

Borrowed from New Latin Agave, from Ancient Greek Ἀγαυή (Agauḗ), name of one of the daughters of Cadmus, from ἀγαυός (agauós, “noble, illustrious”).

### Pronunciation

* (Brazil) IPA: /aˈɡa.vi/
* (Brazil) IPA: /aˈɡa.vi/
** (Southern Brazil) IPA: /aˈɡa.ve/
* (Portugal) IPA: /ɐˈɡa.vɨ/ [ɐˈɣa.vɨ]
* (Portugal) IPA: /ɐˈɡa.vɨ/ [ɐˈɣa.vɨ]
** (Northern Portugal) IPA: /ɐˈɡa.bɨ/ [ɐˈɣa.βɨ]
* Hyphenation: a‧ga‧ve

### Noun

agave m (plural agaves)
* agave (plant of the genus Agave)

## Spanish
### Etymology

Borrowed from translingual Agave, from Ancient Greek Ἀγαυή (Agauḗ), name of one of the daughters of Cadmus, from ἀγαυός (agauós, “noble, illustrious”).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /aˈɡabe/ [aˈɣ̞a.β̞e]
* Audio (Venezuela):(file)
* Rhymes: -abe
* Syllabification: a‧ga‧ve

### Noun

agave m (plural agaves)
* agave
    Synonym: pita

#### Derived terms

* agave tequilero

#### See also

* maguey
* mezcal

### Further reading

* “agave”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10