noun

• 1A fibre resembling sisal, which is chiefly used for binder twine and paper pulp.

  ‘Most in this area produced henequen, an agave fibre that we know under the name ‘sisal’ and which the Mexicans nicknamed ‘green gold’.’

  More example sentences

  • ‘Baskets, mats, and hammocks are woven from plant fibers such as henequen.’
  • ‘He is the author of ‘The Green Republic: A Conservation History of Costa Rica,’ and is completing a manuscript on the history and ecology of the Yucatan henequen industry.’
  • ‘He subordinated most of a wide set of social, labor and political reforms to his overriding interest in realizing a sweeping agrarian reform in the henequen zone.’
  • ‘Countless Yeomem Indians were hanged throughout Sonora, and countless more were rounded up and shipped to Oaxaca and the henequen plantations in Yucatan.’

• 2A Central American agave from which henequen is obtained.

  Agave fourcroydes, family Agavaceae

  ‘Potential sources being tested include soy, hemp, ramie, kenaf stems, pineapple and henequen leaves, and banana stems.’

  More example sentences

  • ‘They labored on vast tobacco, sugarcane, and henequen plantations, in virtual slavery enforced by their continuing debt to the landowners.’