ivory nut

American  

noun

1. the seed of a low, South American palm, Phytelephas macrocarpa, yielding vegetable ivory.

2. a similar seed from other palms.

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ivory nut British  

noun

1. the seed of the ivory palm, which contains an ivory-like substance used to make buttons, etc

2. any similar seed from other palms

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Etymology

Origin of ivory nut

First recorded in 1915–20

Example Sentences

A curious article of exportation is the ivory nut, or tagua, which in value now comes next after bananas.

From The Panama Canal A history and description of the enterprise by Mills, J. Saxon

Buttons, buttons of china, metal, cloth, silk, mother-of-pearl, or other shell, ivory, nut, horn, bone, papier-maché, etc.

From Final Report of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition Commission by Louisiana Purchase Exposition Commission

If he listens peaceably to the lecture, I shall fine him only a hundred thousand coconuts, five tons of ivory nut, one hundred fathoms of shell money, and twenty fat pigs. 

From Jerry of the Islands by London, Jack

Class 390, buttons; buttons of china, metal, cloth, silk, mother-of-pearl or other shell, ivory, nut, horn, bone, papier-maché, etc.

From Final Report of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition Commission by Louisiana Purchase Exposition Commission

But the one best known to commerce under the name of ivory nut is the fruit of Phytelephas macrocarpa, native of New Granada and other parts of Central America.

From The Nut Culturist A Treatise on Propogation, Planting, and Cultivation of Nut Bearing Trees and Shrubs Adapted to the Climate of the United States by Fuller, Andrew S.