kava

noun ka·va \ ˈkä-və \

Definition of kava

1 : an Australasian shrubby pepper (Piper methysticum) from whose crushed root an intoxicating beverage is made; also : the beverage made from kava

2 : the dried rhizome and roots of the kava used especially as a dietary supplement chiefly to relieve stress and anxiety

Recent Examples of kava from the Web

While kava bars have been common in Hawaii and parts of southern Florida since the early 2000s, New York didn’t have a kava bar until 2015.

— zach montague, New York Times, "Stressed New Yorkers Take to Kava, ‘Nature’s Xanax’," 21 Dec. 2017
This numbness happens quickly and is the first of kava’s effects.

— rachelle robinett, Bon Appetit, "This Anxiety-Relieving Drink Wants to Be Your New Glass of Wine," 3 Apr. 2017
Their most popular is kava, which is a root grown in the Pacific Islands.

— kayla o'brien, OrlandoSentinel.com, "Kava bar helps relax the stressed," 13 Oct. 2017
The products include biological molecules such as coenzyme Q10, creatine, glucosamine, omega-3 fatty acids, gingko, kava, milk thistle and many more.

— bradley j. fikes, sandiegouniontribune.com, "71% of Americans take dietary supplements, but do we need to?," 5 May 2017
The woman chugging kava with Fijians and braving temple food in Rajasthan.

— rachel aviv, The New Yorker, "Herman Melville, Volume I," 27 Mar. 2017
VATUKALO, Fiji — Before kava makes its way to a new wave of trendy bars in places like Brooklyn and Berkeley, Calif., it must be nurtured and plucked by people like Livai Tavesivesi.

— serena solomon, New York Times, "Counting on the Trendy to Revive Kava, a Traditional Drink," 23 Feb. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'kava.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of kava

Tongan & Marquesan, literally, bitter

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1810

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

Medical Dictionary

kava

noun ka·va \ ˈkäv-ə \

medical Definition of kava

1 : an Australasian shrubby pepper (Piper methysticum) from whose crushed root an intoxicating beverage is made; also : the beverage

2 : a preparation consisting of the ground dried rhizome and roots of the kava plant that is used as a dietary supplement chiefly to relieve stress, anxiety, and sleeplessness and in folk medicine especially as a diuretic and urogenital antiseptic and that has been linked to cases of severe liver injury