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Possible definitions for jacamar

jacama
Leguminous vine (Pachyrhizus erosus, or P. tuberosus), also called yam bean. A native of Mexico and Central and S. America, it is grown for its edible root. The irregularly globular, brown-skinned tubers are white-fleshed, crisp, and juicy. There are two varieties, those with clear juice and those with milky juice. Both have a mild flavor and are eaten raw or cooked. Sometimes very young seedpods of the plant are eaten, but the mature seeds are highly toxic.


catamaran
Twin-hulled sailing and engine-powered boat. Its design was based on a raft of two logs bridged by planks used by peoples in the Indonesian archipelago, Polynesia, and Micronesia. Up to 70 ft (21 m) long, early catamarans were paddled by many men and used for travel, in war, and in recreation. Especially after the sail was added, voyages as long as 2,000 mi (3,700 km) were made. In the 1870s they sailed so successfully against monohulled boats that they were barred from racing. The modern catamaran, which averages about 40 ft (12 m) in length, has been produced since 1950. They are very fast craft, achieving speeds of 20 mph (32 kph).


jacaranda
Any plant of the genus Jacaranda (family Bignoniaceae), especially the two ornamental trees J. mimosifolia and J. cuspidifolia. Jacarandas are grown widely in warm parts of the world and in greenhouses for their showy blue or violet flowers and attractive, oppositely paired, compound leaves. The genus includes about 50 species native to Central and S. America and the W. Indies. The name is also applied to several tree species of the genera Machaerium and Dalbergia in the pea family (see legume), the sources of commercial rosewood.


Jacquard
French inventor. In 1801 he demonstrated an automatic loom incorporating revolutionary new technology; it was declared public property in 1806, and Jacquard was rewarded with a pension and a royalty on each machine. His loom utilized interchangeable punched cards that controlled the weaving of the cloth so that any desired pattern could be obtained automatically. The Jacquard loom's technology became the basis of the modern automatic loom and a precursor of the modern computer. His punched cards were adapted by C. Babbage as in input-output medium for his proposed analytical engine and by H. Hollerith to feed data to his census machine, and punched cards were used for inputting data into early digital computers.

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