talipot

[tal-uh-pot]

noun

a tall palm, Corypha umbraculifera, of southern India and Ceylon, having large fronds used for making fans and umbrellas, for covering houses, and in place of writing paper: also grown as an ornamental.

Origin of talipot

1675–85; < Malay talipat ≪ Sanskrit tālapattra, equivalent to tāla fan palm + pattra leaf

Also called talipot palm.

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

Examples from the Web for talipot

Historical Examples of talipot

The lines are either hemp, cotton, or the fibre of the talipot palm (Caryota urens), which is obtained by maceration.
Castes and Tribes of Southern India
Edgar Thurston
Fan-palm, a name sometimes given to the talipot palm or Corўpha umbraculifĕra, a native of Ceylon and Malabar.
The New Gresham Encyclopedia
Various
There is one palm tree here––the talipot––that blooms when about forty years old with a loud noise and immegiately dies.
Around the World with Josiah Allen's Wife
Marietta Holley
In Orissa, till lately, writing was done on a talipot palm-leaf, on which the letters were scratched with an iron stylus.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 3, Slice 5
Various
The library of the temple held many richly bound Buddhist books, written on leaves made from the talipot palm.
Travels in the Far East
Ellen Mary Hayes Peck

British Dictionary definitions for talipot

talipot

talipot palm

noun

a palm tree, Corypha umbraculifera, of the East Indies, having large leaves that are used for fans, thatching houses, etc

Word Origin for talipot

C17: from Bengali: palm leaf, from Sanskrit tālī fan palm + pattra leaf

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