manicole

English

WOTD – 5 June 2020

Etymology

A manicole or açaí palm (Euterpe oleracea; sense 1) in Belém, Brazil.

Borrowed from Guyanese Creole English manicole, from Lokono manaka. The English word is cognate with Tariana mánaka, Yucuna manakóla.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈmænəkəʊl/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈmænəˌkoʊl/
• Hyphenation: ma‧ni‧cole

Noun

manicole (plural manicoles)

1. (Guyana) A palm tree of the genus Euterpe which is native to Central America, South America, and the West Indies; especially the açaí palm (Euterpe oleracea).

   Synonym: manicole palm

   • 1883 December, [Everard Ferdinand im Thurn], “Between the Pomeroon and the Orinoco”, in E. F. im Thurn, editor, Timehri: Being the Journal of the Royal Agricultural and Commercial Society of British Guiana, volume II, part II, Demerara: J. Thomson, →OCLC, pages 230–231:

     Next to the mangrove and mora, the most abundant vegetation is supplied by palms of various species. Of these the manicole palm (Euterpe edulis) is the most prominent, [...] Indeed, the dense "bush" there consists almost entirely of enormous numbers of manicoles [...]

   • 1883 December, Alexander Winter, “The Berbice and Its Tributaries”, in E[verard] F[erdinand] im Thurn, editor, Timehri: Being the Journal of the Royal Agricultural and Commercial Society of British Guiana, volume II, part II, Demerara: J. Thomson, →OCLC, pages 301–302:

     A house fifty feet by twenty, built in the usual style, wattled with manicoles, thatched with dallabana leaves, with sleeping rooms upstairs, could be built for fifty dollars, materials and labour included.

   • 1911, Walter E[dmund] Roth, “Some Technological Notes from the Pomeroon District, British Guiana. (Part III.)”, in The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, volume XLI, London: Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 72:

     Arawak males employ the leaf of the manicole palm (Euterpe oleracea) for similar purposes of temporary expediency, in at least four different ways, [...]

   • 1998, Tulemore Ruth van Andel, Palm Heart Harvesting in Guyana’s North-west District: Exploitation and Regeneration of Euterpe Oleracea Swamps (Tropenbos-Guyana Reports; 98-1), Georgetown, Guyana: Tropenbos-Guyana Programme; Utrecht: Herbarium Utrecht University, →OCLC:

     No differences were observed between seedlings of the three clustered manicole varieties.

   • 2009, Jorge Trevin, Robert Nasi, “Non-timber Forest Products (NTFP)”, in Forest Law Enforcement and Governance and Forest Practices in Guyana, Bogor Barat, Indonesia: Center for International Forestry Research, pages 22–23:

     Palm heart is harvested from the manicole palm, Euterpe oleracea, in the Guyana Northwest. [...] The GFC [Guyana Forestry Commission] annually reports the productions of manicole palm heart and mangrove bark. For manicole, 2.7 million pieces (palm-hearts or "stems") were produced in 2008, as well as 12,619 pieces of mangrove bark.

2. (Guyana, chiefly attributively) The Guyana manicole palm or manacachilla (Prestoea tenuiramosa), a species of palm tree native to South America; also, the wood of this tree.

   Synonym: manicole palm

   • [1796, J[ohn] G[abriel] Stedman, chapter X, in Narrative of a Five Years’ Expedition against the Revolted Negroes of Surinam, in Guiana, on the Wild Coast of South America; […], volume I, London: J[oseph] Johnson, […], and J. Edwards, […], →OCLC, pages 230–231:

     For theſe erections [huts] not more than two articles are wanting; the firſt the manicole, by the French called latanie, and here paraſalla, or the pine-tree; and the ſecond the nebees, called by the French liannes, by the Spaniards bejucos, and in Surinam tay-tay. The manicole-tree, which is of the palm-tree ſpecies, is moſtly found in marſhy places, and is always a proof of a rich and luxurious ſoil.

     It is unclear from the context which species of manicole is referred to.]

   • 1995, Andrew Henderson, Gloria Galeano, Rodrigo Bernal, “Prestoea”, in Field Guide to the Palms of the Americas, Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, →ISBN, page 128, column 2:

     Prestoea tenuiramosa [...] "Manicole palm" (Guy[ana]), "manacachilla" (Ven[ezuela]).

   • 2013, M[iroslav] M. Grandtner, Julien Chevrette, compilers, Dictionary of Trees: Volume 2: South America: Nomenclature, Taxonomy and Ecology: […], Amsterdam, Boston, Mass.: Academic Press, →ISBN, paragraph 12967, page 533, column 1:

     Pretoea tenuiramosa (Dammer) [...] manicole prestoea, manicole palm

   • [2015 March 19, “Reconstruction of Umana Yana likely for mid-year start”, in Mark Ramotar, editor, Guyana Chronicle‎^[1], number 104133, Georgetown, Guyana: Guyana National Newspapers, →OCLC, archived from the original on 30 May 2020, page 13, columns 1–3:

     The structure [the Umana Yana] was erected some 43 years ago. The historic, thatched-roof benab served as a leading centre for cultural events in the city and its roof, constructed from thatched allibanna and manicole palm leaves, had stretched some 55 feet into the air.

     It is unclear from the context which species of manicole is referred to.]

Translations

palm tree of the genus Euterpe

• Lithuanian: kopūstpalmė
• Russian: эвтерпа (evterpa)

Prestoea tenuiramosa

• French: palmiste manicole m
• Spanish: manacachilla, manacasia, manakapí (all Venezuela)

Further reading

• açaí palm on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Euterpe (plant) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Prestoea tenuiramosa on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Euterpe on Wikispecies.Wikispecies

Anagrams

• coal mine, coalmine, encomial, enolicam, meconial, melanoic