# betel

Pronunciation: say "BEE-tuhl" /ˈbiːtəl/

## Noun

1. An evergreen Indian creeping shrub, Piper betle, whose dried leaves are chewed together with betel nut.
   - Simple: A climbing Asian plant whose leaves are chewed, often wrapped around a nut.
   - _The cook smeared lime paste across a glossy betel leaf before folding it._
   - _Farmers trellis betel along bamboo frames to keep the vines off the wet ground._
2. An Asian palm, Areca catechu, and especially its seed: the areca nut, also called betel nut.
   - Simple: A tall tropical palm tree, and the nut-like seed it produces that people chew.
   - _She sliced a dried betel into thin slivers for the afternoon guests._
   - _Rows of betel palms swayed above the rice fields near the coast._
3. A chewing preparation made of betel leaf, betel nut, and other plant materials wrapped together; also called paan.
   - Simple: A small wrapped mix of leaf, nut, and other things that people chew.
   - _The old man folded a fresh betel and offered it to his visitor._
   - _At weddings, trays of betel are handed out as a gesture of welcome._
4. Either of two plants, or their parts, that are commonly used together.
   - Simple: One of two plants, often used together, whose parts people chew.
   - _Betel remains central to everyday hospitality in many parts of South Asia._
   - _Traders once carried betel by ship to ports all around the Indian Ocean._

## Origin

Borrowed from Portuguese "bétele", which in turn came from Malayalam "veṟṟila" or Tamil "veṟṟilai".

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/betel (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).