The term yerba mate, since it is used to denote the plant as well as the drink, may need some little explanation in order to avoid a con fusion of terms in the following sketch. The Guarani Indians, who first made known the plant and the use of its leaves tothe Spaniards in Paraguay and to the Portuguese in southern Brazil, call it cad — the plant — that is the plant that is unique among all others, the plant of all plants, so to speak. Oaa guazu, the more specific term, meant the big or splendid plant. The Spaniards, translating literally, called it yerba — the herb. The mate — Spanish for gourd — came to be used in connection with herba because it was in a dried gourd that the pulverized leaves were steeped in boiling water to prepare the drink. By habit the container began to imply the contents and yerba, the herb, and mate, the gourd, combined meant the gourd-herb, and became the name of the plant and then of the drink made therefrom.
