datil

See also: dátil and dàtil

English

A datil

Wikispecies

Etymology 1

Uncertain. Perhaps from Catalan dàtil or Spanish dátil (“date”); see quotes below.

Noun

datil (plural datils)

1. A datil pepper, a very spicy pepper of the species Capsicum chinense.
   • 1995, Jean Andrews, Peppers: The Domesticated Capsicums‎^[1], page 127:

     The first Datil was probably brought to the United States from the West Indies during either the British period or the second Spanish occupation of East Florida (1784–1821). […] The word “Dátil” refers to the fruit of the date palm, both in Spanish and in the language of the Minorcans who named the pepper in St. Augustine.

   • 2007, John Edge, Southern Belly‎^[2], page 67:

     No one knows if the colonists brought datil peppers with them. […] More than likely the Minorcans did give the incendiary peppers their name, for the green to gold pods somewhat resemble dates, a linkage cemented by the knowledge that datil is the word for the fruit of the date palm in both the Catalan and Spanish languages.

Etymology 2

From American Spanish dátil (“date”), from Catalan dàtil. Doublet of dactyl and date.

Noun

datil (plural datils)

1. The queen palm, Syagrus romanzoffiana, or its leaf fibers used for weaving.
2. Mexican yucca or its leaf fibers.

Derived terms

• datil yucca

References

• “datil”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.

Anagrams

• Dalit, Tilda, dital, latid, tidal

Ladino

Noun

datil m (Latin spelling)

1. date (fruit)