palmetto

American  

[pal-met-oh, pahl-, pah-met-oh] / pælˈmɛt oʊ, pɑl-, pɑˈmɛt oʊ /

noun

• palmettos,
  plural
• palmettoes
  plural

1. any of various palms having fan-shaped leaves, as of the genera Sabal, Serenoa, and Thrinax.

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palmetto British  

/ pælˈmɛtəʊ /

noun

1. any of several small chiefly tropical fan palms, esp any of the genus Sabal, of the southeastern US See also cabbage palmetto saw palmetto

2. any of various other fan palms such as palms of the genera Serenoa, Thrinax, and Chamaerops

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• palmettoes
  plural
• palmettos
  plural

Etymology

Origin of palmetto

1555–65; earlier palmito < Spanish, diminutive of palma palm ²; -etto by association with -ette

Explanation

A palmetto is a type of palm tree. You're most likely to see palmettos in South America or the southern US states, instead of say Nebraska. A palmetto (the "cabbage palmetto, to be specific) is Florida's official state tree, and South Carolina is known as "the palmetto state." Palmettos are fan palms, with leaves in the shape of fans that are arranged in a rounded shape. The very middle of the palmetto plant is edible, and when it's harvested and sold as food, it's called "heart of palm." Palmetto comes from the Spanish palmito, "little palm tree."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

palmetto palmettoes palmettos

South Carolina’s palm, the Sabal palmetto, arrived in L.A. late in the 19th century, and a striking example grew at Fourth and Main in present-day downtown.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 20, 2025

Herbal supplements such as saw palmetto are not currently recommended, although some men say they work for them.

From BBC ● Jan. 18, 2024

Nashville’s local palms, the dwarf palmetto and Sabal minor, might, at best, yield a fluffy lowercase m.

From Slate ● Sep. 5, 2023

Enormous palmetto bugs lived under her bed, scurrying into the open after she doused the lights.

From Seattle Times ● Apr. 3, 2023

They were riding down a street lined with sharply spined palmetto trees.

From "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy

I hide under the palmettoes; they no me see.

From Osceola the Seminole The Red Fawn of the Flower Land by Mayne Reid

He took the other two and put them under a clump of palmettoes, where they would make no new acquaintances while he was gone.

From Harper's Round Table, September 24, 1895 by Various

Scrub palmettoes and grass overhung the bank above, which made him wonder if there was any danger of their catching fire.

From A Little Florida Lady by Dorothy C. (Dorothy Charlotte) Paine

The Indians were concealed in the palmettoes, about two hundred yards distant.

From General Scott by Marcus Joseph Wright

From the walls of a great palace whose entablature, adorned with palmettoes, made a long, straight line against the flaming sky, there came a faint murmur of music.

From The Works of Theophile Gautier, Volume 5 The Romance of a Mummy and Egypt by Frederick C. de (Frederick Caesar de) Sumichrast

“Our ownly food was palmettos boiled with the meat and without salt, and the cores of palm trees” — hearts of palm, a future foodie TikTok rage.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 20, 2025

He was mad about flowers and tropical shrubs and plants, palm trees, palmettos and hardwoods, birds and butterflies.

From New York Times ● Nov. 30, 2022

The tiny cottages — painted colorful hues and surrounded by lush palmettos, banana plants, hibiscus and sprawling live oak trees — are largely clustered in the blocks west of the boardwalk and main downtown area.

From Washington Post ● Aug. 19, 2021

Her work included a study of palmettos near her home at 71 Rutledge Ave. and possibly field research on the Isle of Palms.

From Washington Times ● Jan. 6, 2021

I was about to give up and go back for Ricky when I spied a narrow corridor of freshly stomped palmettos not far away.

From "Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children" by Ransom Riggs