betel

American  

[beet-l] / ˈbit l /

Or betel pepper

noun

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

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betel British  

/ 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

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Etymology

Origin of betel

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

Example Sentences

Last year the inaugural No Betel Nut Day was held to educate citizens on the risks and early symptoms.

From BBC • Oct. 11, 2017

The seeds or nuts form a chief ingredient in the celebrated eastern masticatory called Pan and which seems to owe its stimulating properties to the leaves of the Piper Betel.

From The Commercial Products of the Vegetable Kingdom Considered in Their Various Uses to Man and in Their Relation to the Arts and Manufactures; Forming a Practical Treatise & Handbook of Reference for the Colonist, Manufacturer, Merchant, and Consumer, on the Cultivation, Preparation for Shipment, and Commercial Value, &c. of the Various Substances Obtained From Trees and Plants, Entering into the Husbandry of Tropical and Sub-tropical Regions, &c. by Simmonds, P. L.

The better sort of Women, as Gentlewomen or Ladies, have no other Pastime but to sit and chew Betel, swallowing the spittle, and spitting out the rest.

From An Historical Relation of the Island Ceylon in the East Indies Together with an Account of the Detaining in Captivity the Author and Divers other Englishmen Now Living There, and of the Author's Miraculous Escape by Knox, Robert

They were the Betel, the Pan, and the Tobacco.

From Folk-Tales of the Khasis by Rafy, K. U.

My name was originally Anantya; now all the world call me Betel Anantya, and I will tell you how this nickname arose.

From The Book of Noodles Stories of Simpletons; or, Fools and Their Follies by Clouston, William Alexander