noun ·3 syllables ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   Any of various fan palms of the family Arecaceae, especially Sabal palmetto or the saw palmetto, Serenoa repens.

   "Broad o'er my Head the verdant Cedar wave, / And high Palmetos lift their graceful Shade."

2. 2
   any of several low-growing palms with fan-shaped leaves wordnet
3. 3
   A hat made of palmetto leaves.
4. 4
   A native or resident of the US state of South Carolina.

Synonyms

All synonyms

palmetta

Example

More examples

"Broad o'er my Head the verdant Cedar wave, / And high Palmetos lift their graceful Shade."

Etymology

From Spanish palmito, diminutive of palma (“palm tree”), from Latin palma. Doublet of palmite and palmito.

Related phrases

Bermuda palmettoBirmingham palmettoHispaniola palmettoMexican palmettoRio Grande palmettoSonoran palmettoTexas palmettoYucatán palmettobush palmettocabbage palmettodwarf palmettopalmetto bug

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.