Crossword Dictionary

What's The Definition Of Coffee?

\Cof"fee\ (?; 115), n. [Turk. qahveh, Ar. qahuah wine, coffee, a decoction of berries. Cf. {Caf['e]}.] 1. The ``beans'' or ``berries'' (pyrenes) obtained from the drupes of a small evergreen tree of the genus {Coffea}, growing in Abyssinia, Arabia, Persia, and other warm regions of Asia and Africa, and also in tropical America. 2. The coffee tree. Note: There are several species of the coffee tree, as, {Coffea Arabica}, {C. occidentalis}, and {C. Liberica}. The white, fragrant flowers grow in clusters at the root of the leaves, and the fruit is a red or purple cherrylike drupe, with sweet pulp, usually containing two pyrenes, commercially called ``beans'' or ``berries''. 3. The beverage made from the roasted and ground berry. They have in Turkey a drink called coffee. . . . This drink comforteth the brain and heart, and helpeth digestion. --Bacon. Note: The use of coffee is said to have been introduced into England about 1650, when coffeehouses were opened in Oxford and London. {Coffee bug} (Zo["o]l.), a species of scale insect ({Lecanium coff[ae]a}), often very injurious to the coffee tree. {Coffee rat} (Zo["o]l.) See {Musang}.