ensete
/ˈɛnsət/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: 0.00 in modern English
6
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
2
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
Ensete ventricosum, a species of flowering plant in the banana family Musaceae, the root of which is used for food and other purposes.
Countable; Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "[T]he figs of the Enſete are not eatable; they are of a tender, ſoft ſubstance; watery, taſteleſs, and in colour and conſiſtence ſimilar to a rotten apricot; they are of a conical form, crooked a little at the lower end, about an inch and a half in length, and an inch in breadth where thickeſt."
- "Were it not for the enſete, therefore, the Galla would have ſcarce any vegetable food. Mr [James] Bruce thinks that the enſete may have been cultivated in ſome of the gardens of Egypt about Roſetto, but that it was not a native of the country."
- "On the way I saw, for the first time, Enset, a nice plant, which is described in [James] Bruce's Travels. The Abyssinians use it in baking bread, which is wrapped in it, and gives to it a particular scent, which I do not like."
- "Here, among his Cycads and his Orchids, his Ensetes and his Dracænas, spade in hand, a wideawake hat on his head, a rare flower in his button-hole, and rustic contentment irradiating his face—here, amid scenery which typifies a botanist's paradise, Sir John Kirk is emphatically At Home."
- "Another instance of religious influence on diversity of cultivars is found in Ethiopia, where the Ari people cultivate ensete, a relative of the banana (Shigeta 1990). Ensete leaves are used for wrapping, thatching, ground cover for sitting, containers, dresses, ornamentation at funerals and weddings, and shading from sun and rain."
Etymology
Word Breakdown
- Root: እንሰት
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈɛnsət/
- British English: /ˈɛnsət/