abaca

American  

[ab-uh-kah, ah-buh-] / ˌæb əˈkɑ, ˌɑ bə- /

noun

1. a Philippine plant, Musa textilis.

2. the fiber of this plant, used in making rope, fabrics, etc.

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abaca British  

/ ˈæbəkə /

noun

1. a Philippine plant, Musa textilis, related to the banana: family Musaceae. Its leafstalks are the source of Manila hemp

2. another name for Manila hemp

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Etymology

Origin of abaca

1810–20; < Spanish < Tagalog abaká

Example Sentences

From a helicopter, “we saw the devastation of coconuts, abaca and the forests. There are lots of houses without roofs,” Lorenzana said by text message.

From Washington Times • Dec. 27, 2016

The artist Randy Brozen will lead the workshop, showing young artists how to make paper from the fibers of cotton and abaca, a type of banana tree that grows in the Philippines.

From New York Times • Feb. 21, 2014

A little further on, we pass an older man in a Diesel T-shirt, shredding abaca bark to make twine.

From Slate • Feb. 29, 2012

Manila hemp comes from abaca, a plant much like the one bananas grow on.

From Time Magazine Archive

This abaca costs twenty-four reals per quintal, and is made into rigging in Cabite by the Indian natives, in the sizes and diameter required.

From The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898 — Volume 18 of 55 1617-1620 Explorations by Early Navigators, Descriptions of the Islands and Their Peoples, Their History and Records of the Catholic Missions, as Related in Contemporaneous Books and Manuscripts, Showing the Political, Economic, Commercial and Religious Conditions of Those Islands from Their Earliest Relations with European Nations to the Close of the Nineteenth Century by Robertson, James Alexander

Related Words

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• cannabis
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