rattan

See also: Rattan and råttan

English

Rattan palm with fruits.

Baskets made of rattan.

Etymology

Borrowed from Malay rotan.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ɹəˈtan/, /ˈɹatan/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ɹəˈtæn/

  • Audio (US):

    (file)

• Rhymes: -æn

Noun

rattan (countable and uncountable, plural rattans)

1. Any of several species of climbing palm of the genus Calamus.
2. (uncountable) The plant used as a material for making furniture, baskets etc.
   • 2019, Colson Whitehead, The Nickel Boys, Fleet, page 180:

     It took Elwood an hour to find Mr. Gladwell, who sat in a big rattan chair at the edge of the sweet potato fields.

3. (by extension) A cane made from this material.
   • 1906, Walter William Skeat, Charles Otto Blagden, Pagan Races of the Malay Peninsula:

     He who first acts as striker asks the other how many blows of the rattan he will bear on his forearm without crying out.

   • 1908, W[illiam] B[lair] M[orton] Ferguson, chapter IV, in Zollenstein, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC:

     “My Continental prominence is improving,” I commented dryly. ¶ Von Lindowe cut at a furze bush with his silver-mounted rattan. ¶ “Quite so,” he said as dryly, his hand at his mustache. “I may say if your intentions were known your life would not be worth a curse.”

   • 2008, Jean-François Bayart, Andrew Brown, Global Subjects: A Political Critique of Globalization:

     […] the rattan is still a valued instrument of discipline […]

Derived terms

• ant rattan

Translations

climbing palm

• Aklanon: uway
• Arabic: please add this translation if you can
• Berawan: laka
• Brunei Malay: rutan
• Cebuano: uway
• Central Melanau: wai
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 藤 (zh) (téng)

• Dutch: rotan (nl)
• Finnish: rottinkipalmu (fi)
• French: rotin (fr) m
• German: Rattan n, Rotangpalme f
• Higaonon: balagun
• Hungarian: rotángpálma
• Indonesian: rotan (id)
• Irish: ratán m
• Italian: rattan m
• Malay: rotan (ms)
• Paiwan: quai
• Polish: rotang m
• Portuguese: rotim m, rota (pt) f
• Russian: рота́нг (ru) m (rotáng)
• Sebop: laka
• Spanish: ratán m
• Swedish: rotting (sv) c
• Tausug: uay
• Telugu: పేము (te) (pēmu)
• Ternate: uri
• Thai: หวาย (th) (wǎai)
• Turkish: rattan
• Vietnamese: mây (vi), song (vi)
• West Makian: weri
• Western Bukidnon Manobo: belaɣen

material

• Arabic: please add this translation if you can
• Brunei Malay: rutan
• Burmese: ကြိမ် (my) (krim)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 藤 (zh) (téng), 藤條 / 藤条 (zh) (téngtiáo)

• Dutch: rotan (nl)
• Esperanto: please add this translation if you can
• Finnish: rottinki (fi)
• French: rotin (fr) m
• German: Peddigrohr (de) n, Rattan n
• Hungarian: rotángpálma
• Indonesian: rotan (id)
• Ingrian: saksanrooko
• Irish: ratán m
• Lao: please add this translation if you can
• Malay: rotan (ms)
• Polish: rotang m
• Portuguese: rotim m
• Russian: please add this translation if you can
• Spanish: ratán m
• Swedish: rotting (sv) c
• Thai: หวาย (th) (wǎai)
• Turkish: rattan
• Vietnamese: mây (vi), song (vi)

Verb

rattan (third-person singular simple present rattans, present participle rattaning, simple past and past participle rattaned)

1. (transitive) To beat with a rattan cane.
   • 1915, Edward Walford, George Latimer Apperson, The Antiquary, volume 51, page 56:

     Meanwhile Captain Colville rattaned Pearson very severely […]

Further reading

• rattan on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Calamus on Wikispecies.Wikispecies

Anagrams

• Tartan, Tatran, tantra, tartan