Acajou
/ˈæk.əˌʒuː/noun
A French loanword for a reddish-brown color and, in some contexts, mahogany or cashew-related products.
Did you know?Acajou entered French through a Caribbean/Portuguese colonial chain tied to the cassowary-like tangle of tropical plant names, and in French it became especially associated with the rich reddish-brown of mahogany.
Etymological Timeline
Tupi-Guarani
Tupi
acajú / acaiú (reconstructed colonial form)
“A tropical tree or its nut/fruit, the source term behind later European forms”
16th Century
Portuguese
caju
“Cashew; the nut-bearing tropical tree”
16th-17th Century
French
acajou
“Mahogany; later also a reddish-brown color”
Modern English
English
acajou
“Rarely used in English, chiefly as a color term borrowed from French”
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