sugar palm
- noun
- /ˈsuːɡər pɑːlm/
- Philippine
:
palma de azúcar
- The sugar palm is often tapped for its sweet sap, which can be turned into palm sugar.
Examples
-
In Malaysia, the sugar palm's trunk is used to produce sago, a staple food.
-
Many villages in Southeast Asia rely on the sugar palm for both food and wine production.
-
So what we did is we created a ring of sugar palms around the area.
-
The "official" sugar palm, Arenga pinnata, is a remarkable food producer.
Blog text (1)
Synonyms
A palm tree whose base has many fibers and gives sweet sap for wine and starchy food from its trunk
A palm tree with a fibrous base that gives sweet sap for wine and a trunk used to make sago
A large palm tree from Southeast Asia used for strong fibers, sweet sap, and sago
A tall palm tree whose sweet liquid people make into a drink and sugar
A Malaysian palm tree whose soft trunk produces sago used as a food starch and to make cloth
A palm tree whose trunk gives a starchy food used for cooking
A plant that makes sago, a starchy food from its trunk
Surface Forms
Morphology
The compound 'sugar palm' is directly interpretable from its constituents: 'sugar' (sweet substance) + 'palm' (tropical tree), so a B1 learner who knows both words can infer it refers to a palm associated with sugar-producing sap. This is a straightforward compositional pattern (noun + noun) found cross-linguistically, so the meaning is predictable without prior exposure.
Etymology
Sugar palm is a tall palm tree that makes a sweet 'sap' people collect from the trunk and flowers to make 'sugar', 'wine' and 'sago'. So the name shows it is a palm known for its sweet sugar-rich sap.
