The general and original usage of the term is less restrictive, and many nuts (in the culinary sense), such as almonds, pecans, pistachios, walnuts, and Brazil nuts, are not nuts in a botanical sense. Common usage of the term often refers to any hard-walled, edible kernel as a nut.
Also know, are macadamia nuts actually nuts?
Most of what people call nuts are not true nuts (like macadamia nuts, walnuts, pecans, peanuts, pine nuts, etc.) So in short, a macadamia nut is actually a seed.
Similarly, what is the difference between a nut and a seed?
Nuts have a hard outer shell that contains a dry fruit and one or two seeds. The shell does not separate when the fruit is ready to eat but must be practically pried off. Seeds are embryonic plants with a built in nutrient-rich seed coat. Some seeds need their outer husk removed prior to eating and others do not.
Are cashews a true nut?
Cashews: the Nut That Is Not a Nut
The cashew is technically not a nut; it is a seed harvested from the cashew apple, the fruit produced by cashew trees. Unlike many other nuts and seeds, the cashew grows outside the fruit instead of inside, within a kidney-shaped drupe that hangs at the end of the cashew apple's base. Which nuts are real nuts?
True nuts include pecan, sweet chestnut, beech, acorns, hazel, hornbeam and alder. Peanuts, almonds, pistachios, cashews, horse chestnuts and pine nuts are not nuts.