Ginger #

Illustration of Zingiber officinale Roscoe from Köhler's Medizinal-Pflanzen (1887)

Ginger (Zingiber officinale Roscoe) is a culinary and medicinal spice from the Zingiberaceae family,¹ originating in the region(s) of South East Asia; India (secondary).² It is used for its rhizome, primarily for Asian cooking; anti-emetic. Its aroma is described as fiery, pungent, with a heat index of 7.³

Overview #

Etymologies #

English ginger, ca. 925 < reinforced by Old French gingivere, gingibre ‘ginger’ < Medieval Latin gingiber ‘ginger’ < Latin zingiber ‘ginger’ < Ancient Greek ziggiberis ‘ginger’ < Pali siṅgivera ‘ginger’; cf. cognates Sanskrit शृङ्गवेर < Dravidian * cinki-wēr ‘ginger’, South dravidian nominal compound from the etyma of Tamil and Malayalam iñci (both with regular loss of an initial sibilant) + vēr (Proto-Dravidian wēr); the base of * cinki is a loanword < unknown language ? ‘ginger’, unidentified Southeast Asian language; cf. cognates Khasi sying /sʔiŋ/, Thai khing, Vietnamese gừng, Chinese jiāng < Proto-Sino-Tibetan * kjaŋ ‘ginger’

Arabic زنجبيل zanjabīl ‘ginger’, 609-632 < Classical Syriac ܙܢܓܒܝܠ zangabīl ‘ginger’ < Pahlavi singibēr ‘ginger’, or via another Middle Iranian language < Sauraseni Prakrit 𑀲𑀺𑀁𑀕𑀺𑀯𑁂𑀭 siṃgivera ‘ginger’ < Sanskrit शृङ्गवेर śṛṅgavera ‘ginger’ < Dravidian * cinki-wēr ‘ginger’, South dravidian nominal compound from the etyma of Tamil and Malayalam iñci (both with regular loss of an initial sibilant) + vēr (Proto-Dravidian wēr); the base of * cinki is a loanword < unknown language ? ‘ginger’, unidentified Southeast Asian language; cf. cognates Khasi sying /sʔiŋ/, Thai khing, Vietnamese gừng, Chinese jiāng < Proto-Sino-Tibetan * kjaŋ ‘ginger’

Mandarin Chinese 薑 jiāng ‘ginger’, -221 < Old Chinese 䕬 OC / *kaŋ/ ‘ginger’ < Proto-Sino-Tibetan * kjaŋ ‘ginger’; cf. Burmese ချင်း hkyang:

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