“Ava” is a form of
kava
/kɑː.və/ noun, proper noun
Forms kavas ava kawa ʻawa yava
- noun Any member of the species Piper methysticum, a plant from the South Pacific.
- noun An intoxicating beverage made from the kava plant.
- proper noun A surname.
Synonyms
Etymology
From Tongan kava, in turn from Proto-Polynesian *kawa.
Doublet of ʻawa, ava, kawa, and yava.
Transliteration of Ukrainian Кава (Kava) or a phonetic respelling of Polish Kawa, from kawa (“jackdaw”); ultimately from Proto-Slavic *kavъka (“jackdaw”).
Webster’s 1913
- noun A species of Macropiper (M. methysticum), the long pepper, from the root of which an intoxicating beverage is made by the Polynesians, by a process of mastication; also, the beverage itself.
Etymology [Polynesian.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “kava”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details