kola nut
- noun
- /ˈkoʊlə nʌt/
:
nuez de kola
- The kola nut, which contains caffeine, is often used to make cola drinks.
Yeah, they're going to want kola nuts and they're going to want gold.
- Yeah, they're going to want kola nuts and they're going to want gold.
Examples
-
Food and drink from the north, such as kola nuts and millet beer, said to be present in the image, are Tchamba's favorite nourishments.
Academic text (1999) -
Yeah, they're going to want kola nuts and they're going to want gold.
-
Tell him that 71,500 kola nuts were sent (Verger 1952).
Academic text (1990) -
During the festival, many people shared kola nuts as a traditional treat.
-
In Africa, kola nuts are sometimes offered as a symbol of hospitality.
Synonyms
1
8.1
A group of African trees that make kola nuts used to flavor soft drinks
1
9.1
A West African tree that produces large brown nuts with caffeine used to make cola drinks
A West African tree that makes brown kola nuts with caffeine used for cola drinks
A tropical tree that produces large brown nuts containing caffeine used to make cola drinks
A large brown nut from an African tree that contains caffeine and gives cola flavor
Surface Forms
Morphology
This is a straightforward compound in which the modifier 'kola' specifies the type of 'nut', so a learner who knows both constituents can infer it is the seed of the kola tree. The meaning is concrete and compositional (a nut from a kola tree) rather than idiomatic, and such noun–noun naming patterns are cross-linguistically common, making it transparently interpretable.
Etymology
Kola nut is the brown nut from a West African tree called kola, and people there have long chewed it for energy and offered it to guests as a sign of welcome. Because its bitter taste and caffeine were later used to flavor early soft drinks, the word also refers to the extract used in 'cola' drinks.