ratoons

Noun

ratoon (plural ratoons)

1. A shoot sprouting from the root of a cropped plant, especially sugar cane.
   • Ratoons, probably so named from a corruption of the Spanish word brotones, are suckers and sprouts, that spring from the roots of canes that have previously been cut down.1803, John Browne Cutting, “A Succinct History of Jamaica” in Robert Charles Dallas, The History of the Maroons, London: Longman and Rees, Volume 1, p. xci
2. A rattan cane.
   • Mr. Hawley did give me a little black rattoon, painted and gilt.1660, Samuel Pepys, diary entry for 13 September, 1660, in Diary and Correspondence of Samuel Pepys, London: Henry Colburn, 1848, 3rd edition, Volume 1, p. 134

See all 4 meanings of ratoon