• pecan •
Pronunciation: pee-kæn, pi-kahn, pê-kahn, pee-kahn • Hear it!
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: 1. The hickory tree Carya illinoinensis of central and southern US states and Mexico. 2. A nut from that tree that comes in paper shell and hard shell varieties, used in baking pies, making pralines, and in salads. 3. The wood from that tree used in cabinetmaking and finishing floors and walls of buildings.
Notes: 
Here is a word that English-speakers can't figure out how to pronounce. No serious research has been conducted, but region, gender, ethnicity, or class can't account for the difference. I come from North Carolina and only heard the first pronunciation there. I never heard it in the 5 years I spent in Michigan or my 58 years in Pennsylvania.
In Play: When Dr. Goodword was a lad, his grandparents had four pecan trees on their property. In the fall, the grandsons would climb the trees, shake the limbs until they surrendered their treasure, and the granddaughters would gather them from the ground. The adults would then crack and hull them to eat or make pecan pies: "What kind of whiskey did you put in this pecan pie? It's superdelicious."
Word History: The French settlers in the Mississippi Valley in the early 18th century spoke of pacanes, a word they picked up from the Illinois people, who spoke one of the Algonquin languages (hence the illinoinensis in the tree's name). Pakani in Illinois meant "(hard-shelled) nut", as did Cree pakan, Ojibwe bagaan, and Abenaki pagaan. Much of the original Illinois pronunciation and spelling remains in Spanish pacana "pecan", but the spelling pecana is typical of Ecuador and Peru. All descended from Proto-Algonquian paka-n- "large nut". Pecan trees grow wild in North America and native Americans ate them regularly, some even used them for money. (Brian Johnson in Tokyo wondered how today's native Good Word was correctly pronounced and shared his wonder with us.)
P.S. - Register for the Daily Good Word E-Mail! - You can get our daily Good Word sent directly to you via e-mail in either HTML or Text format. Go to our Registration Page to sign up today!
