Nopal
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 A prickly pear cactus from the genus Opuntia, especially Opuntia cochinellifera; the edible pads (fleshy leaves) of the cactus, considered as food.
"They rode up through cholla and nopal, a dwarf forest of spined things, through a stone gap in the mountains and down among blooming artemisia and aloe."
- 2 any of several cacti of the genus Nopalea resembling prickly pears wordnet
- 3 cactus having yellow flowers and purple fruits wordnet
Example
More examples"Miguel, an engineer, and Rogelio, a farmer and businessman, met over their shared passion for clean energy and an appreciation for the nopal, or prickly pear cactus. Together, they have found unique ways to harness the power of the plant. They created the first filling station in the world to sell emission-free biogas made from cactus, and now they’re taking their vision to a younger generation. We join them as they embark on their newest venture—building a cactus-powered biotechnology system to run parts of the Technological Institute of Iztapalapa in Mexico City."
Etymology
From Spanish nopal, from Classical Nahuatl nohpalli (“Opuntia cactus”). Compare nopales.
Related phrases
More for "nopal"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.