Etymology

macadamia

M3A1C3A1D2A1M3I1A1

Today it means: An evergreen tree, of the genus Macadamia, native to Australia and cultivated in Hawaii. Full definition →

English MacAdam ← Scottish Gaelic Mac Àdhaimh ← Old Irish Ádam
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The story

  1. Proto-Celtic*makkʷos
  2. Old Irishmacc
  3. Middle Irishmac
  4. Scottish Gaelicmac
  5. Proto-Semitic*ʔadam-
  6. Hebrewאָדָם
  7. Ancient GreekἈδάμ (Adám)
  8. LatinĀdām
  9. Old IrishÁdam
  10. Scottish GaelicÀdhamh
  11. Scottish GaelicMac Àdhaimh
  12. EnglishMacAdam
  13. English todaymacadamia

From the genus name Macadamia, coined by the German-Australian botanist Ferdinand von Mueller in 1857, in honor of John Macadam, whose surname is an alternative spelling of MacAdam, from Scottish Gaelic Mac Àdhaimh (“Adam's son”). By surface analysis, Mac- + Adam + -ia.

Words from the same roots

Scottish GaelicMac Àdhaimh all →

macadam

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.