Guama
/ˈɡwɑːmə/noun
A tropical American tree of the genus Inga, especially Inga vera, often grown for its edible pods.
Did you know?Guama is an English botanical loanword transmitted through Spanish from Taíno, preserving a fragment of the Caribbean language encountered during early European colonization.
Etymological Timeline
Pre-Columbian period
Taíno
guama
“Name for a tropical tree of the Inga group”
15th–16th Century
Spanish
guama
“A tropical American tree, adopted from an Indigenous Caribbean term”
18th Century
Botanical Latin
Inga
“The scientific genus to which guama trees belong”
19th Century
English
guama
“A tropical American tree of the genus Inga”
Modern English
English
guama
“A tree producing edible, sweet-pulped pods, commonly associated with the species Inga vera”