paan
/pɑːn/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.02 in modern English
6
Scrabble Score
4
Letters
1
Syllables
3
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A psychoactive preparation of betel leaf combined with areca nut and/or cured tobacco, chewed recreationally in Asia; such a preparation served wrapped in the leaf.
Indian usage; Countable; Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "‘I am an Indian, it is an Indian habit to take pan. The Civil Surgeon must put up with it.’"
- "A paan consists of chopped or shredded nut (always referred to as betel nut, though in fact it comes from the areca palm), wrapped in a leaf (which does come from the betel tree).[…]The triangular package thus formed is wedged inside your cheek and chewed slowly, and in the case of chuna and zarda paans, spitting out the juice as you go."
- "Perched outside Madhavbagh Temple, decorated with antique mirrors, this 100-year-old shop serves up juicy paans, plump with mawa."
- "Preparing a paan is simple. The leaf is first cleaned with water and dried. It is then covered with a thin layer of lime paste. In north India, paan sellers then spread red-coloured syrup (extracted from a native plant) over the lime paste."
Etymology
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: पान, *pornóm