nipa

American  

[nee-puh] / ˈni pə /

noun

1. a palm, Nypa fruticans, of India, the Philippines, etc., whose foliage is used for thatching, basketry, etc.

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nipa British  

/ ˈnaɪ-, ˈniːpə /

noun

1. a palm tree, Nipa fruticans, of S and SE Asia, having feathery leaves, used for thatching, and edible fruit

2. the fruit or thatch obtained from this tree

3. the sap of this tree, used to make a liquor

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Etymology

Origin of nipa

1580–90; < New Latin < Malay nipah

Example Sentences

Like many a creek of the Niger Delta in southern Nigeria, it was choked by nipa palms.

From New York Times • Sep. 3, 2021

Once, its creek was home to thick forests of mangroves, but now most were gone, the victims of past environmental disasters and encroachment of invasive nipa palms, brought there long ago by the British.

From New York Times • Sep. 3, 2021

This morning on this sandy beach, where nipa huts lean crazily, columns of Filipinos began to pass by.

From Time Magazine Archive

Their home was a typical thatched nipa hut on stilts, with chickens scratching and hogs grunting in the mud beneath the ladder leading up to the door.

From Time Magazine Archive

It stood facing the plaza, pointed-roofed, post-elevated, between shimmering bananas, a new nipa hut, clean and strong.

From Caybigan by Hopper, James