ginger

kalayzich commented on the list ginger--1

1865 J. R. Lowell Lett. (1894) I. 348 There, by ginger! I meant to give the merest hint of a sentiment, and I have gone splash into a moral.

1. The rhizome of the tropical plant Zingiber officinale, remarkable for its hot spicy taste; used when dried and ground in cookery and as a medicine; also preserved in syrup or candied as a sweetmeat.

December 15, 2013

alexz commented on the list ginger--1

ginger-vitis

:)

December 15, 2013

kalayzich commented on the list ginger--1

Etymology: The Old English gingiber, gingifer(e are directly < late Latin gingiber = the earlier zingiber(i, < Greek ζιγγίβερις, apparently < Prakrit siŋgabēra < Sanskrit çṛŋgavēra, which has the appearance of a compound of çṛŋga horn and vēra body, but is supposed by Yule to be an etymologizing perversion (suggested by the antler-like form of the root) of a Dravidian name, a prehistoric form of the Malayalam synonym inchi-ver ( < inchi root). The Middle English forms seem to be readoptions chiefly through Old French gimgibre, gingimbre (modern French gingembre) = Provençal gingibre, gingebre, Spanish gengibre, agengibre, Portuguese gengivre, Italian zenzevero, zenzero, gengero, gengiovo.

Other forms of this widely diffused word are Arabic zanjabīl (already in the Qur'an); Middle Dutch gengber (from Spanish or Portuguese) whence Dutch gember; also (with loss of the initial consonant as in German enzian from Latin gentiāna) Middle High German ingewer (German ingwer), Middle Low German engewer, Danish ingefær, Swedish ingefära.

December 15, 2013