boerboon, noun

/ˈbuːrbʊən/, /ˈbʊə(r)bʊən/
Forms:
barboon, boer-boenShow more Also barboon, boer-boen, boerbon, boereboon, boorbon, bourbon, burben.
Plurals:
boerboons.
Origin:
South African DutchShow more South African Dutch, boer (applied to indigenous plants and animals) + boon bean; probably so named because the seeds were widely used by Dutch colonists as a foodstuff and in making a coffee-like beverage.
Any of several species of tree of the genus Schotia of the Fabaceae, especially S. afra, an evergreen flowering tree which produces pods of edible seeds resembling broad beans; these seeds; boer-bean sense 2 a; boerboom; boerboontjie sense 1; Cape walnut sense (b), see Cape sense 2 a. Also attributive. See also Hottentot(’s) bean (tree) at Hottentot noun sense 6 a.
1809 J. Mackrill Diary. 74Thunberg’s Guaiae africana, is the Scotia Speciosa (Wilde Boorbon).
1812 J.T. Van der Kemp Acct of Caffraria 63There also grows the boereboon, called by the natives ingaem.
1832 Graham’s Town Jrnl 18 May 80bNow on hand, a small quantity of superior Cyder, Bourbon Coffee, and York Hams.
1833 Graham’s Town Jrnl 2 May 3A green boereboon stick, about the length of my arm, with the bark still on it.
1844 J. Backhouse Narr. of Visit 172Among the trees is the Theodora speciosa? called Boerboon, Farmers-bean, bearing gay, crimson flowers.
1846 J.M. Bowker Speeches & Sel. (1864) 207The trees under which he formed his bower,..those very Bourbon trees are dead, and our grievances remain unredressed!
1875 J.J. Bisset Sport & War 163Charles Somerset..was taking out the honeycomb from the hollow of a large barboon or bean tree.
1908 F.C. Slater Sunburnt South 11At the foot of the valley ran a rivulet, along which boer-boens, ruddy with blood-like blossoms,..grew in delightful profusion.
1917 R. Marloth Dict. of Common Names of Plants 13Boerboon, This name is applied to the four species of the genus Schotia, the young seeds being edible like beans. Trees with showy flowers.
1964 A. Rothmann Elephant Shrew 33There are miles and miles of bush.., gnarled ghwarrie trees, ‘boerboon’ with its showy red flowers and flat pods and above all elephant’s food or ‘spekboom’.
1973 E. Prov. Herald 30 July 14The heartwood of the boerboon or Cape Walnut (Schotia latifolia) polishes well and makes a most attractive small table.
1987 M. Poland Train to Doringbult 57For each goat shorn the shearer would toss a round tan boerboon into a tin — a tally of his day’s work.
1989 [see Conserva quot. at boer-bean sense b].
Any of several species of tree of the genus Schotia of the Fabaceae, especially S. afra, an evergreen flowering tree which produces pods of edible seeds resembling broad beans; these seeds; boer-bean sense 2 a; boerboom; boerboontjie sense 1; Cape walnut sense (b), see Cape sense 2 a. Also attributive.
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18091987

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boerboom, nounn.boerboontjie, nounn.
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