Macadamia, macadam, tarmac, MacAdam, and McAdam

The macadamia nut was named after John Macadam, Scotch-Australian academic. The nut is native to northeastern Australia, but famously cultivated in Hawaii, for example by Roseanne Barr, whose farm is for sale.

Macadam, a road surface of layers of crushed stones, was named after John Loudon McAdam, a Scottish engineer.

When you add tar to macadam, you get “tarmac.”

While the specific tarmac pavement is not common in some countries today, many people use the word to refer to generic paved areas at airports, especially the apron near airport terminals, although these areas are often made of concrete.

Idle bit of history/etymology I picked up after eating a macadamia nut.