pecan

noun

1. a tall hickory tree, Carya illinoinensis, of the southern U.S. and Mexico, cultivated for its oval, smooth-shelled, edible nuts: the state tree of Texas.
2. a nut of this tree.

noun

1. a hickory tree, Carya pecan (or C. illinoensis), of the southern US, having deeply furrowed bark and edible nuts
2. the smooth oval nut of this tree, which has a sweet oily kernel

n.1712, paccan “the pecan tree,” or a related hickory, from French pacane, from an Algonquian word meaning “nut” (cf. Cree pakan “hard-shelled nut,” Ojibwa bagaan, Abenaki pagann, Fox /paka:ni/).