caraguatá

caraguatá

English

Etymology

Said to be from a Tupian word meaning "scratcher of wayfarers".

Noun

caraguatá (plural caraguatás)

1. Any of several similar South American bromeliad plants, Bromelia serra or Bromelia pinguin or Bromelia balansae (formerly Bromelia argentina), which yield a long, silky fiber used for making cords, sacks, etc.
   • 1870, Sir Richard Francis Burton, Letters from the Battle-fields of Paraguay, page 374:

     Of the "végétation rabougrie," the cactus and the caraguatá bromelia appeared to be the most general.

   • 1946, Handbook of South American Indians, page 285:

     [...] women are constantly occupied with making thread, netting, or needle-looping. The development of techniques of string work was favored by the abundance of the Bromelia which provide excelllent raw material. The caraguatá (Bromelia sp.) are uprooted [...]

   • 2002, John Renshaw, The Indians of the Paraguayan Chaco: Identity and Economy, U of Nebraska Press (→ISBN), page 82:

     Some edible species of caraguatá (Bromelia sp.) are found in the forested areas of the Chaco. [...] They leave in small family groups with their caraguatá fiber bags strapped across their foreheads, carrying long poles hooked at the far end [...]

Alternative forms

• caraguata

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Portuguese

Noun

caraguatá m (plural caraguatás)

1. the South-American plant Bromelia pinguin