bamboo

bamboo
\ \ [16] Bamboo appears to come from a Malay word mambu. This was brought back to Europe by the Portuguese explorers, and enjoyed a brief currency in English from the 17th to the 18th century. However, for reasons no one can explain, the initial m of this word became changed to b, and it acquired an s at the end, producing a form found in Latin texts of the time as bambusa. This appears to have passed into English via Dutch bamboes, so the earliest English version of the word was bambos. As so often happens in such cases, the final s was misinterpreted as a plural ending, so it dropped off to give the new ‘singular’ bamboo.

Word origins - 2ed. . 2005.

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  • Bamboo — Bam*boo , v. t. To flog with the bamboo. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • bamboo —    Bamboo is a fibrous plant, and materials obtained from it. Bamboo grows into poles comprised of segments with hollow cores, gradually tapering to their upper tips. Leaves grow from the ridges at the ends of its segments. These ridges are… …   Glossary of Art Terms

  • Bamboo — Bam*boo (b[a^]m*b[=oo] ), n. [Malay bambu, mambu.] (Bot.) A plant of the family of grasses, and genus {Bambusa}, growing in tropical countries. [1913 Webster] Note: The most useful species is {Bambusa arundinacea}, which has a woody, hollow,… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Bamboo — (Bambu, spr. Bämbuh), 1) eine Art Steingut von strohgelber Farbe, s. Wedgwood; 2) Maß für Flüssigkeiten auf Sumatra, ungefähr 31 Berliner Quart, für Getreide etwa 31/2 Pfund, in Birma Längenmaß, ungefähr 1813 Pariser Linien …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

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