pistachio
UK /pɪsˈtæʃi.əʊ/ · US /pɪsˈtæʃioʊ/ noun
Forms pistachios pistachioes pistacchio pistache
- noun A deciduous tree (Pistacia vera) grown in parts of Asia for its drupaceous fruit.
- noun The nutlike fruit of this tree.
- noun A pale green colour, like that of a pistachio seed.
Synonyms
pista pistachio green Pistacia vera pistachio tree pistachio nut
Etymology
From Italian pistacchio (1590s), from Latin pistācium (“pistachio”), from Ancient Greek πιστάκιον (pistákion), from πιστάκη (pistákē, “pistachio tree”), of Iranian origin. Compare Middle English pistace (from Middle French pistace, pistache), Northern Kurdish pisteq, Persian پسته (peste), Middle Persian pstk' (pistag, “pistachio nut”), Old Armenian պիստակ (pistak) (from Iranian), Arabic فُسْتُق (fustuq), Turkish fıstık.
Webster’s 1913
- noun The nut of the Pistacia vera, a tree of the order Anacardiaceæ, containing a kernel of a pale greenish color, which has a pleasant taste, resembling that of the almond, and yields an oil of agreeable taste and odor; --called also pistachio nut. It is wholesome and nutritive. The tree grows in Arabia, Persia, Syria, and Sicily.
- noun A light yellowish green color resembling that of the pistachio nut.
Etymology [It. pistacchio (cf. Sp. pistacho, F. pistache), fr. L. pistacium, Gr. pistah. Cf. Fistinut.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “pistachio”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details