moringa
(mɒˈrɪŋgə)
Also 8 morunga, 9 marenga.
[ad. mod.L. Moringa.]
The Ben-nut tree (Moringa pterygosperma). Also attrib.
| 1753 Chambers Cycl. Supp., Moringa, in botany, the name by which some authors call the tree which produces the ben nut. 1797 Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) VIII. 176/2 s.v. Guilandina, The moringa, or morunga nickar, is a native of the island of Ceylon, and some places on the Malabar coast. 1861 Bentley Man. Bot. 531 The Moringa or Ben-Nut Order. 1892 M. North Recoll. Happy Life I. 102, I saw the two marenga-trees, from the berries of which the oil of Ben used by watch-makers is pressed. |
Hence moˈringad, Lindley's term for a plant of the family Moringaceæ (Veg. Kingd. 1846, p. 336).