mahua

[ mah-hwah ]

noun

1. any of several trees of the genus Madhuca, of the sapodilla family, native to India, the Malay Peninsula, and southeastern Asia, especially M. latifolia, the flowers of which are used, fresh or dried, for food or are fermented to prepare an intoxicating drink.

Word History and Origins

Origin of mahua¹

1680–90; < Hindi mahūā ≪ Sanskrit madhūka a tree name

Example Sentences

The smell of the fermented mahua and the refuse water lying about make the village liquor-shop an unattractive place.

From Project Gutenberg

The body of an adult may also be burnt under a mahua tree so that the tree may give him a supply of liquor in the next world.

From Project Gutenberg

They know how to distil liquor from the flowers of the mahua (Bassia latifolia).

From Project Gutenberg

A subsept of the Uika clan of Gonds in Betūl, so named because their priest stole balls of cooked mahua.

From Project Gutenberg

Farmservants eat the gruel of rice or kodon boiled in water when they can afford it, and if not they eat mahua flowers.

From Project Gutenberg