Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Kava \Ka"va\, n. [Polynesian.] (Bot.)
   A species of {Macropiper} ({M. methysticum}), the long
   pepper, from the root of which an intoxicating beverage is
   made by the Polynesians, by a process of mastication; also,
   the beverage itself. [Written also {kawa}, {kava}, and
   {ava}.]