betel pepper
- noun
- Indian
:
pimienta betel
- The leaves of the betel pepper are commonly chewed with areca nut in many Asian countries.
Examples
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She wrapped a small piece of lime in a betel pepper leaf before offering it to her guest.
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Cultivation of betel pepper requires warm, humid conditions found in the tropics.
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I enjoy chewing betel pepper leaves.
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Many people in Thailand use betel pepper in their traditional rituals.
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The leaves of the betel pepper plant are often chewed with areca nut during social gatherings in Southeast Asia.
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She offered her friend a betel pepper leaf filled with a mixture of spices and lime.
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In some cultures, chewing betel pepper is considered a sign of hospitality.
Synonyms
1
9.9
A leaf people chew with areca nut in parts of South and Southeast Asia
A climbing Asian plant whose leaves people chew with betel nut
A tropical vine with leaves that people chew with betel nut
Surface Forms
Morphology
The compound is a straightforward noun+noun composition where 'betel' identifies the specific chewing plant and 'pepper' marks it as a kind of plant/pepper; a learner who knows 'betel' (a climbing plant used for chewing) and 'pepper' (a plant) can infer this refers to the betel plant used for chewing. This compositional pattern is common cross-linguistically and does not involve idiomatic or metaphorical shift, so the meaning is directly derivable from the parts.
Etymology
Betel pepper names a climbing plant whose shiny, heart-shaped leaves are used as a green wrapper to chew betel nut with lime. Because people have long wrapped the nut in the betel leaf and 'chewed' it, the name joining betel and pepper keeps the link between the plant and that chewing habit.