Also 8 troelie, 9 troely, (in Dicts.) trooly. [Corruption of Tupi tururi.] A name for the immense entire leaf of the bussu-palm (Manicaria saccifera), often thirty feet in length and four or five in breadth, used in the lower Amazon region for thatching. Also, the tree itself. Also attrib., as troolie leaf, palm, tree; troolie hut, a hut thatched with troolies.
1769. E. Bancroft, Guiana, 13. Troelies are a leaf near thirty feet in length, serving for the thatch of houses. Ibid., 103. Troolies are, perhaps, the largest leaves … hitherto discovered.
1825. Waterton, Wand. S. Amer., I. (1903), 12. The troely, one leaf of which will defend thee from both sun and rain [Note (1903), The Troolie palm]. Ibid. (1882), 30. The low and swampy parts near creeks where the troely tree grows.
1847. M. J. Higgins, Ess. (1875), 227. An Indian … barn, open at the sides, and thatched thickly with troolie leaves at the top.
1899. Rodway, Guiana Wilds, 20. Lying on the bed in the troolie hut.
