Cashew \Ca*shew"\ (k[.a]*sh[=oo]"), n. [F. acajou, for cajou, prob. from Malay k[=a]yu tree; cf. Pg. acaju, cf. Acajou.]

(Bot.) A tree (Anacardium occidentale) of the same family which the sumac. It is native in tropical America, but is now naturalized in all tropical countries. Its fruit, a kidney-shaped nut, grows at the extremity of an edible, pear-shaped hypocarp, about three inches long.

Cashew nut, the large, kidney-shaped fruit of the cashew, which is edible after the caustic oil has been expelled from the shell by roasting the nut.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)