Meanings
- uncountableAny of several related Brazilian trees of the genus Xylopia, or the bast fiber they yield.
No hemp grew in the country, the wild palm afforded one substitute; and the bark of the embira supplied cordage and [...]
1811, Robert Southey, “View of the State of Brasil in 1581”, in The Scots Magazine, page 2803 more examples
page 459: [...] two right-angled notches prevented the caraguatá or embira string from slipping. page 535: The embira or caraguatá strings, were made taut or lax by twisting.
1946, Handbook of South American Indianspage 259: Alfred R. Wallace (1853) says that they were made of three strips of embira, [...] page 287: Boys 8 to 12, who do not yet use the penis sheath, wear under their buriti belts two fringed embira aprons, one over the other.
1948, Julian Haynes Steward, Bulletin, issue 143, part 3The floor beams are 10 cm x 15 cm (4 in x 6 in) in diameter and are tied with embira (bast fibre). When the structure of sticks has been set up the mixture of earth and manure is spread on it by hand.
1997, Paul Oliver, Encyclopedia of the Vernacular Architecture of the World: Cultures and habitats
Origin
- Tupian
- Englishembira
From a Tupian word embira (“bark, bast”).
More words from Tupian
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
embira. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/embira
“embira.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/embira. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “embira,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/embira.
Source: embira on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.