さや【莢】 : saya | define meaning

From さや【鞘】 saya "scabbard, sheath".

Historical attestations:

• An English and Japanese and Japanese and English Vocabulary (1830), by Walter Henry Medhurst, records "マメノサヤ, Mame no saya, A bean pod".
• A Japanese and English Dictionary: With an English and Japanese Index (1867), by James Curtis Hepburn, records "Saya. サヤ, 鞘, n. A sheath, case, scabbard, husk. Mame no —, a bean pod. Fude no —, the bamboo case which covers the end of a pencil, a pencil case."