# peewah
## English
### Etymology

Borrowed from Trinidadian Creole English peewa, peewah, from Spanish pijguao (Latin America), possibly from Quechua [Term?]. The English word is cognate with Spanish pifá, pivá (Panama), pijuayo (Peru).

### Pronunciation

* (Received Pronunciation) IPA: /ˈpiːwɑː/
* (General American) IPA: /ˈpiwɑ/
* Audio (General American):(file)
* Hyphenation: pee‧wah

### Noun

peewah (plural peewahs) (Trinidad and Tobago)
* A peach palm (Bactris gasipaes), a South American palm tree.
    Synonym: pupunha
** 1910, Department of Agriculture, Legislative Council, Trinidad and Tobago, [Council Paper], Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago: Government Printer, →OCLC, page 16:The Pewa or Peach palm (Guilielma speciosa) was introduced from Trinidad, and seedlings raised for distribution. The fruits when boiled in water with salt are appreciated as a food.
** [1947 December 27, L[iberty] H[yde] Bailey, Indigenous Palms of Trinidad and Tobago (Gentes Herbarum: Occasional Papers on the Kinds of Plants), volume VII, fascicle IV, Ithaca, N.Y.: Bailey Hortorium of The New York State College of Agriculture, Cornell University, →OCLC, page 353:This Guilielma [the peach palm or pejibaye (Guilielma gasipaes)] is prized in Trinidad, as well as elsewhere, for its edible fruits; by the natives I have heard it called piliwa and piwa.]
** 1984, Jeffrey W. Dellimore, Judy A. Whitehead, Secondary Agrobased Industries: ECCM and Barbados (Caribbean Technology Policy Studies Project; 90), Mona, Jamaica: Institute of Social and Economic Research, University of the West Indies, →OCLC, page 79:Nonconventional sources with development potential include: [...] wild plants such as gru gru, pewa (peach nut), many weeds and, possibly, the seeds of seaside grapes, fat pork, etc.
* The edible fruit of this plant, which has an orange or red skin when ripe, orange pulp which turns floury when cooked, and a single large seed.
** 1994, Sylvia Moodie-Kablalsingh, The Cocoa Panyols of Trinidad: An Oral Record, London, New York, N.Y.: British Academic Press, →ISBN, page 42:Nicolasa had boiled a couple dozen peewahs. They were of a floury consistency. I cracked open the nuts and chewed them slowly, squeezing out the juice against my palate.
** 1996, Nalo Hopkinson, “A Habit of Waste”, in Fireweed, Toronto, Ont.: Fireweed Inc., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 40, column 2; republished in Victor J[ammona] Ramraj, editor, Concert of Voices: An Anthology of World Writing in English, 2nd edition, Peterborough, Ont.: Broadview Press, 2009, →ISBN, page 186:I start to remember Julie mango, how it sweet, and chataigne and peewah that me mother would boil up in a big pot a' salt water, and how my father always had he little kitchen garden, growin' dasheen leaf and pigeon peas and yam and thing.
** 2000 November, Karl Burgess, “La Vega Estate”, in Pamela Collins, editor, Proceedings: Regional Agro-tourism Conference: Agro-tourism – a Sustainable Approach to Economic Growth […], Trinidad and Tobago: Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture, →OCLC, page 79:Mr. [Bertram] Manhin's travels resulted in his introducing into the country fruits like Pewa (Bactris gasipaes) from Costa Rica, Brazil and Peru; [...]
** 2009, Ann Vanderhoof, “Curry Tabanca: Trinidad”, in The Spice Necklace: A Food-lover’s Caribbean Adventure, Toronto, Ont.: Doubleday Canada, →ISBN, page 190:Every Saturday, I make it my mission to buy something new: [...] peewah, which look like cute, golf-ball-sized coconuts (they're the fruit of a different palm tree) and are a popular Trini snack. Boiled in well-salted water, peeled and popped into our mouths, they remind us of roasted chestnuts.
** 2013 April 6, Angelo Bissessarsingh, “The marchandes of Port-of-Spain”, in Trinidad and Tobago Guardian‎, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago: Trinidad Pub. Co., →OCLC, archived from the original on 9 July 2020:The fruit of the land would also be sold from wooden trays—peewah, topi tambo, pois doux and other natural treats.

#### Alternative forms

* peewa
* pewa

#### Translations
### References

* ↑ Lise Winer (2009) “peewa, peewah”, in Dictionary of the English/Creole of Trinidad & Tobago: On Historical Principles, Montreal, Que.: McGill–Queen’s University Press, →ISBN, page 682, column 1.

### Further reading

* Bactris gasipaes on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
* Bactris gasipaes on Wikispecies.Wikispecies