mahua

American  

[mah-hwah] / ˈmɑ ʰwɑ /

Also mahwa,

noun

1. any of several trees of the genus Madhuca, of the sapodilla family, native to India, the Malay Peninsula, and southeastern Asia, especially M. latifolia, the flowers of which are used, fresh or dried, for food or are fermented to prepare an intoxicating drink.

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Etymology

Origin of mahua

1680–90; < Hindi mahūā ≪ Sanskrit madhūka a tree name

Example Sentences

Mr. Vazifdar clicked his light back on and pointed out bright orange crabs scurrying up the trunks of the giant mahua trees, and lizards hiding in the saw-toothed pandanus bushes.

From New York Times • Nov. 22, 2022

About six miles downhill, past mahua trees and colorful snack stands, is Ms. Bano’s former home in the Hindu-dominated village of Randhikpur.

From New York Times • Aug. 20, 2022

Old saris laid on the ground help collect mahua flowers, a nutritional staple for many tribes in India, from beneath trees in this photo from Aditya Waikul.

From National Geographic • Oct. 21, 2015

Its muted palette of burnt wheat, ochre, cow-dung brown, and ash-gray is relieved only by the greenery from the rice paddies and the abundant tamarind, mahua, and sheesham trees.

From Newsweek • Aug. 6, 2013

A subsept of the Uika clan of Gonds in Betūl, so named because their priest stole balls of cooked mahua.

From The Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces of India—Volume I (of IV) by Russell, R. V. (Robert Vane)