nut (redirected from Nutt)

Nut, in Egyptian religion

Nut (nt, nŭt), in Egyptian religion, sky-goddess. She was the sister-wife of the earth god Geb, to whom she bore Osiris, Isis, Set, and Nephthys. She was sometimes represented with her hands and feet on the earth and the curve of her body forming the vault of heaven.

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nut, in botany

nut, in botany, a dry one-seeded fruit which is indehiscent (i.e., does not split open along a definite seam at maturity). Among the true nuts are the acorn, chestnut, and hazelnut. Commonly the word nut is used for any seed or fruit having an edible kernel surrounded by a hard or brittle covering. Thus the peanut pod is actually a legume, the Brazil nut is a seed enclosed with others in a capsule, and the almond is part of a drupe, a type of fruit that includes olives and peaches. Others that are not botanically true nuts are the cashew, coconut, litchi, pistachio, and walnut. Most nuts have a high content of oil; in addition they may contain substantial amounts of protein, carbohydrates, minerals, and vitamins. Although nuts were originally harvested from wild trees, this century has seen the increasing cultivation of nut orchards—especially in warmer climates—for commercial production both for food and for byproducts.

Bibliography

See J. G. Woodroof, Tree Nuts (2 vol., 1967); R. A. Jaynes, ed., Handbook of North American Nut Trees (rev. ed. 1973).

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nut

Dry, hard, one-seeded fruit consisting of a kernel, usually oily, surrounded by a hard or brittle shell that does not split open at maturity. Nuts include chestnuts, filberts, and walnuts; but other so-called nuts are botanically seeds (Brazil nut, pistachio), legumes (peanut), or drupes (almond and coconut). Most edible nuts are well known as dessert nuts. Some nuts are sources of oil or fat. Not all nuts are edible; some are used for ornament.

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nut

In technology, a fastening device consisting of a square or hexagonal block, usually of metal, with a hole in the centre having internal, or female, threads that fit on the male threads of an associated bolt or screw. Bolts or screws with nuts are widely used for fastening machine and structural components. See also fastener.

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Nut

In Egyptian religion, a goddess of the sky. She represented the vault of the heavens and was often depicted as a woman arched over the earth god Geb. Nut was believed to swallow the sun in the evening and to give birth to it again in the morning. She was sometimes portrayed as a cow, the form she took to carry the sun god, Re, on her back to the sky. On five days preceding the New Year, Nut gave birth successively to the deities Osiris, Horus, Seth, Isis, and Nephthys.