betel

or be·tel pepper

[ beet-l ]

noun

1. an East Indian pepper plant, Piper betle, the leaves of which are chewed with other ingredients.

betel

/ ˈbiːtəl /

noun

1. an Asian piperaceous climbing plant, Piper betle , the leaves of which are chewed, with the betel nut, by the peoples of SE Asia

Word History and Origins

Origin of betel¹

1545–55; < Portuguese bétele, bétere < Malayalam viṟṟila or Tamil veṟṟilai

Word History and Origins

Origin of betel¹

C16: from Portuguese, from Malayalam vettila

Example Sentences

Later, if they decide to separate, the couple must break a betel nut to break the union.

From The Daily Beast

Alila's grandmother prepared a quantity of betel before the new baby was born.

From Project Gutenberg

The Chinese and natives of the place chew this nut with betel-leaf and calcined mussel-shells.

From Project Gutenberg

The Dhimal propitiate Data and Bedata by presents of betel-leaf and red-lead.

From Project Gutenberg

All men who attended had a head-dress made of the leaf petiole of the betel tree and the red leaves of the dongola plant.

From Project Gutenberg

The ex-queen chewed betel and smiled at him, and he, in return, tickled the soles of her feet till she screamed.

From Project Gutenberg