English

Paan

Alternative forms

• pan
• pawn

Noun

paan ‎(countable and uncountable, plural paans)

1. A psychoactive preparation of betel leaf combined with areca nut and/or cured tobacco, chewed recreationally in Asia; such a preparation served wrapped in the leaf.
   • 2003, David Abram, Nick Edwards, The Rough Guide to South India, Rough Guides, page 52,

     A paan consists of chopped or shredded nut (always referred to as betel nut, though in fact it comes from the areca palm), wrapped in a leaf (which does come from the betel tree). […] The triangular package thus formed is wedged inside your cheek and chewed slowly, and in the case of chuna and zarda paans, spitting out the juice as you go.

   • 2005, Rashmi Uday Singh, Mumbai by Night, page 142,

     Perched outside Madhavbagh Temple, decorated with antique mirrors, this 100-year-old shop serves up juicy paans, plump with mawa.

   • 2006, M. R. Narayan Swamy, New Delhi, page 31,

     Preparing a paan is simple. The leaf is first cleaned with water and dried. It is then covered with a thin layer of lime paste. In north India, paan sellers then spread red-coloured syrup (extracted from a native plant) over the lime paste.

Translations

Mangas

Verb

paan

1. to swim

References

• Gábor Takács, Omotic lexicon in its Afro-Asiatic setting III: Omotic *p-