Showing results for fan palm. Search instead for fern+palm.

fan palm

American

noun

a palm having fan-shaped leaves, as the talipot.
Chinese fan palm.

fan palm British

noun

any of various palm trees, such as the talipot and palmetto, that have fan-shaped leaves Compare feather palm

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of fan palm

An Americanism dating back to 1810–20

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Cholla gardens and brittlebush rise from pale alluvial slopes, and a seasonal stream leads to one of California’s few native fan palm oases.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 7, 2026

That, he told me, is the Mexican fan palm, Washingtonia robusta, which only survives down to about 15 degrees Fahrenheit.

From Slate • Sep. 5, 2023

In Palm Canyon, you find the world’s largest California fan palm oasis.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 8, 2023

At the far end of Bracks’ cracked driveway, a California fan palm towers over a worn, free-standing basketball hoop.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 19, 2022

Most days, Celia lay under a fan palm beside the bofuo, its thatched roof steaming after the morning rains.

From "Dreaming in Cuban" by Cristina García

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023