betel

Etymology

Borrowed from Portuguese bétel, from Malayalam വെറ്റില (veṟṟila), from വെറു (veṟu, “plain, mere”) + ഇല (ila, “leaf”).

noun

1. Either of two plants often used in combination:
   1. an evergreen Indian creeping shrub, Piper betle, whose dried leaves are chewed with betel nut: the betel pepper
   2. the seed of the betel palm, Areca catechu: the betel nut
2. A quid (chewing preparation) containing these and other plant materials; paan.
   He went to the rail to spit out a scarlet mouthful of betel […] 1934, George Orwell, chapter 1, in Burmese Days
   2002, Vātsyāyana, Kama Sutra, translated by Wendy Doniger and Sudhir Kakar, Oxford University Press, 3.3.16, pp. 83-84, Within the range of his powers, he sends her, secretly, […] cosmetics such as red lac, red arsenic, yellow arsenic, red mercury sulphide, and black collyrium; sandalwood paste and saffron; and, in course of time, areca nuts and betel leaves for betel.