peewah
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈpiːwɑː/
ipa: /ˈpiwɑ/
Forms: form: peewahs
form: peewa
form: pewa
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).
Senses: examples: text: 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.
ref: 1910, Department of Agriculture, Legislative Council, Trinidad and Tobago, [Council Paper], Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago: Government Printer, →OCLC, page 16:
text: 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.
ref: [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:
text: 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.
ref: 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:
synonyms: pupunha
glosses: A peach palm (Bactris gasipaes), a South American palm tree.
examples: text: 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.
ref: 1994, Sylvia Moodie-Kablalsingh, The Cocoa Panyols of Trinidad: An Oral Record, London; New York, N.Y.: British Academic Press, →ISBN, page 42:
text: 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.
ref: 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:
text: Mr. [Bertram] Manhin's travels resulted in his introducing into the country fruits like Pewa (Bactris gasipaes) from Costa Rica, Brazil and Peru; [...]
ref: 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:
text: 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.
ref: 2009, Ann Vanderhoof, “Curry Tabanca: Trinidad”, in The Spice Necklace: A Food-lover’s Caribbean Adventure, Toronto, Ont.: Doubleday Canada, →ISBN, page 190:
text: The fruit of the land would also be sold from wooden trays—peewah, topi tambo, pois doux and other natural treats.
ref: 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 09 Jul 2020:
glosses: 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.