goober

goo·ber  (gbr)

n. Chiefly Southern U.S.

See peanut.

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[Of Bantu origin; akin to Kongo or Kimbundu n-guba.]

Regional Note: Most Southerners recognize the terms goober and goober pea as other names for the peanut. Goober is related to Kongo or Kimbundu n-guba, "peanut." The word is especially interesting as one of a small stock of African language borrowings brought over by slaves. Most of these words have to do with the food items imported from Africa for the slaves to eat. In this category are gumbo, "okra," which is of Bantu origin, and yam, which is of West African origin. The noun cooter is related to the Mandingo word kuta and the Tshiluba word nkudu, both meaning "turtle." Cooter is still used in South Carolina, Georgia, and the Gulf states to denote the edible freshwater turtle of the genus Chrysemys and, by extension, other turtles and tortoises.

Thesaurus

Noun

1.

goober - pod of the peanut vine containing usually 2 nuts or seeds; `groundnut' and `monkey nut' are British terms goober pea, monkey nut, groundnut, earthnut, peanut edible nut - a hard-shelled seed consisting of an edible kernel or meat enclosed in a woody or leathery shell Arachis hypogaea, peanut vine, peanut - widely cultivated American plant cultivated in tropical and warm regions; showy yellow flowers on stalks that bend over to the soil so that seed pods ripen underground