pecan

[pi-kahn, -kan, pee-kan]

noun

a tall hickory tree, Carya illinoinensis, of the southern U.S. and Mexico, cultivated for its oval, smooth-shelled, edible nuts: the state tree of Texas.
a nut of this tree.

Origin of pecan

1765–75, Americanism; < Mississippi Valley French pacane < Illinois pakani < Proto-Algonquian *paka·n- nut (derivative of *pake·- crack nuts)

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for pecan

Contemporary Examples of pecan

The rest of Perry, with its population of around 15,000, is ringed by churches, pecan groves, and cotton fields.
Nunn-Perdue: The Devil Went Down to Perry, Georgia
Patricia Murphy
October 10, 2014
INSIDER TIP: Bring a collapsible sports chair and (try to) leave room for pecan pie and bread pudding.
Foodie Heaven in Houston
Michele Meyer
July 10, 2014
Outside, oak and hickory and pecan trees dotted the rolling grassland.
The Death of a Rodeo Cowboy
Peter Richmond
May 11, 2014
Girls weighed 90 pounds and barfed after eating a whole half-gallon of butter pecan ice cream.
P.J. O’Rourke on Grabbing the Keys to Happiness
P. J. O’Rourke
January 24, 2014
He moves past the thick-trunked oak and pecan trees, headed for the city bus stop two blocks away.
The Man Oswald First Tried to Kill Before JFK
Bill Minutaglio, Steven L. Davis
October 3, 2013

Historical Examples of pecan

The deer is mine, I brought him down over in the pecan grove on the river.
For the Liberty of Texas
Edward Stratemeyer
This class of nuts is adopted to the north where the pecan is unsatisfactory.
Northern Nut Growers Association Thirty-Fourth Annual Report 1943
Various
Its flavor can not compare with that of the pecan, hickory, or black walnut.
Northern Nut Growers Association Thirty-Fourth Annual Report 1943
Various
We don't have the pecan tree in the North as a native at all.
Northern Nut Growers Association Report of the Proceedings at the Fifth Annual Meeting
Various
I presume the Professor will think no change in pecan nuts necessary.
How Doth the Simple Spelling Bee
Owen Wister

British Dictionary definitions for pecan

pecan

noun

a hickory tree, Carya pecan (or C. illinoensis), of the southern US, having deeply furrowed bark and edible nuts
the smooth oval nut of this tree, which has a sweet oily kernel

Word Origin for pecan

C18: from Algonquian paccan; related to Ojibwa pagân nut with a hard shell, Cree pakan

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for pecan

1712, paccan "the pecan tree," or a related hickory, from French pacane, from an Algonquian word meaning "nut" (cf. Cree pakan "hard-shelled nut," Ojibwa bagaan, Abenaki pagann, Fox /paka:ni/).