Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Maguey \Mag"uey\, n. [Sp. maguey, Mexican maguei and metl.]
   (Bot.)
   The century plant, a species of {Agave} ({A. Americana}). See
   {Agave}.

Agave \A*ga"ve\, n. [L. Agave, prop. name, fr. Gr. ?, fem. of ?
   illustrious, noble.] (bot.)
   A genus of plants (order {Amaryllidace[ae]}) of which the
   chief species is the maguey or century plant ({A.
   Americana}), wrongly called Aloe. It is from ten to seventy
   years, according to climate, in attaining maturity, when it
   produces a gigantic flower stem, sometimes forty feet in
   height, and perishes. The fermented juice is the pulque of
   the Mexicans; distilled, it yields mescal. A strong thread
   and a tough paper are made from the leaves, and the wood has
   many uses.

Source : WordNet®

agave
     n : tropical American plants with basal rosettes of fibrous
         sword-shaped leaves and flowers in tall spikes; some
         cultivated for ornament or for fiber [syn: {century plant},
          {American aloe}]