kukui nut oil
- noun
- /kuˈkuːi nʌt ɔɪl/
- US
:
aceite de nuez kukui
- Kukui nut oil is often praised for its ability to deeply hydrate and nourish the skin.
Examples
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In Hawaii, traditional healers use kukui nut oil in remedies for dry skin and sunburn.
-
The Hawaiians who had penetrated this netherworld, wearing nothing more than loincloths, moved in dim light by putting kukui nut oil and coconut-fiber wicks in stone cups.
Academic text (2011) -
Many people enjoy cooking with kukui nut oil because of its rich flavor and health benefits.
Synonyms
An oil from the seeds of a Hawaiian tree used for skin, hair, and cooking
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase is fully compositional: knowing 'kukui' (a type of nut), 'nut', and 'oil' allows a learner to infer this is the oil extracted from kukui nuts. Although 'kukui' is a specific cultural/ botanical name, the noun-noun-oil pattern (X nut oil) is cross-linguistically common and therefore immediately interpretable by B1 learners who know the constituents.
Etymology
Kukui nut oil gets its name from the Hawaiian word kukui, which means 'light' or 'lamp' because people once burned the nuts and used the oil to make light. The same oil was also used for cooking and to soothe skin, so today the name means the oil from those nuts used for food and skin care.
