ginger

ginger
\ \ [OE] Few foodstuffs can have been as exhaustively etymologized as ginger – Professor Alan Ross, for instance, begetter of the U/non-U distinction, wrote an entire 74-page monograph on the history of the word in 1952. And deservedly so, for its ancestry is extraordinarily complex. Its ultimate source was Sanskrit śrngavēram, a compound formed from śrngam ‘horn’ and vẽra- ‘body’; the term was applied to ‘ginger’ because of the shape of its edible root.
\ \ This passed via Prakrit singabēra and Greek ziggíberis into Latin as zinziberi. In postclassical times the Latin form developed to gingiber or gingiver, which Old English borrowed as gingifer. English reborrowed the word in the 13th century from Old French gingivre, which combined with the descendant of the Old English form to produce Middle English gingivere – whence modern English ginger.
\ \ Its verbal use, as in ‘ginger up’, appears to come from the practice of putting a piece of ginger into a lazy horse’s anus to make it buck its ideas up.

Word origins - 2ed. . 2005.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Ginger — Gin ger, n. [OE. ginger, gingever, gingivere, OF. gengibre, gingimbre, F. gingembre, L. zingiber, zingiberi, fr. Gr. ?; of Oriental origin; cf. Ar. & Pers. zenjeb[=i]l, fr. Skr. [,c][.r][.n]gav[ e]ra, prop., hornshaped; ???ga horn + v[ e]ra… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Ginger — steht für: Der Codename für den Segway Human Transporter Ginger (Vorname), ein Vorname englische Bezeichnung für Ingwer Ginger Ale, ein Getränk Ginger Beer, ein Getränk Hurrikan Ginger, ein Atlantik Hurrikan im Jahr 1971 Ginger (Band),… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Ginger — m, f English: 1 (m., f.) Originally a nickname for someone with red hair (or, occasionally, with a violent temper), sometimes used as a given name in the 20th century, perhaps for a child with ginger hair. 2 (f.) As a female name it may also… …   First names dictionary

  • ginger — mid 14c., from O.E. gingifer, from M.L. gingiber, from L. zingiberi, from Gk. zingiberis, from Prakrit (Middle Indic) singabera, from Skt. srngaveram, from srngam horn + vera body, so called from the shape of its root. But this may be Sanskrit… …   Etymology dictionary

  • ginger — ► NOUN 1) a hot, fragrant spice made from the rhizome of a SE Asian plant resembling bamboo. 2) a light reddish yellow colour. 3) spirit; mettle. ► VERB 1) flavour with ginger. 2) (ginger up) stimulate or enliven …   English terms dictionary

  • ginger — [jin′jər] adj. [ME gingere, gingivere < OE gingifer & OFr gingivre, both < ML gingiber < L zingiber < Gr zingiberi < Pali siṅgivera] designating a family (Zingiberaceae, order Zingiberales) of aromatic, monocotyledonous tropical… …   English World dictionary

  • ginger — /ˈdʒindʒer, ingl. ˈdʒɪndʒə(r)/ [ginger «zenzero»] s. m. inv. bibita, analcolico …   Sinonimi e Contrari. Terza edizione

  • Ginger [1] — Ginger, Insel des britischen Antheils der Virginischen od. Jungferinseln (Westindien) …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

  • Ginger [2] — Ginger (engl., spr. Schinscher), Ingwer; daher Gingerbeer (spr. Schinscherbier) so v.w. Ingwerbier …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

  • ginger — (izg. džìndžer) m DEFINICIJA v. đinđer ETIMOLOGIJA engl …   Hrvatski jezični portal

  • Ginger — [jin′jər] n. a feminine name: see VIRGINIA1 …   English World dictionary

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