cashew

Etymology

Shortening of French acajou, from Portuguese acaju, from Tupian acajuba or aka'iu.

noun

1. A tree, Anacardium occidentale, native to northeastern Brazil, now widely grown in tropical climates for its cashew nuts and cashew apples.
   Soft-wood grafting and veneer grafting are successful in cashew. 2002, P. K. Ray, Breeding Tropical and Subtropical Fruits, page 221
   Also known as the Native Cashew, it is a member of the Anacardiaceae, the same plant family to which the Cashew and Mango trees belong. 2005, Roger Martin, Tree-Kangaroos of Australia and New Guinea, page 106
   Cashew (Anacardium occidental L.) is an export-oriented crop grown for its nuts, a true drupe. 2007, Alice Kurian, K. V. Peter (series editor), Commercial Crops Technology (Horticulture Science; 8), page 63
2. A cashew nut.
   In some countries, cashews continue to be cracked manually although cracking machinery and other shelling mechanisms have been introduced. 1996, Thomas Payne, “17: Nuts”, in Laszlo Somogyi, Diane M. Barrett, Y. H. Hui, editors, Processing Fruits, page 529
   The bland cashew is a fitting substitute for higher priced almonds to extend the nut texture. In baking, however, almonds are more suitable for cake decoration than cashews. 2004, Frederic Rosengarten, Jr., The Book of Edible Nuts, page 46
   This is a spicy variation of Kung Pao Chicken using cashews rather than the more common peanuts. 2010, Dick Logue, 500 Low Glycemic Index Recipes, page 413