Nutmeg #

Illustration of Myristica fragrans

Illustration of Myristica fragrans Houtt. from Köhler's Medizinal-Pflanzen (1887)

Nutmeg (Myristica fragrans Houtt.) is a culinary spice from the Myristicaceae family,¹ originating in the region(s) of Moluccas (Indonesia).² It is used for its seed, primarily for desserts, eggnog; diahrrhea. Its aroma is described as sweet, warm, nutty, with a heat index of 1.³

English	Arabic	Chinese	Hungarian
nutmeg	جوز الطيب	肉豆蔻	szerecsendió

Overview #

id	nutmeg
species name	Myristica fragrans Houtt.
family	Myristicaceae
part used	seed
macroarea	Asia
region of origin	Moluccas (Indonesia)
cultivation	Grenada; Indonesia
color	pale brown nut, dark when powdered
botanical database	POWO

Etymologies #

English nutmeg < Anglo-Norman * nois mugue < Old French nois mug(u)ede; nois musguete < Romance * nuce muscāta < Latin nux muscada < Pahlavi * mušk < Sanskrit muṣka

Arabic جوز الطيب jawz al-ṭīb ’nutmeg’ < Persian jawz buwwa ’nutmeg'

Mandarin Chinese 肉豆蔻 ròudòukòu ’nutmeg'

Names #

English #

term	source
nutmeg	OED

Arabic #

script	term	literal	source
جوز الطيب	jawz al-ṭīb	fragrant nut	Wehr, 1976
جوز بوى	jawz bawwā	fragrant nut	Baalbaki, 1995
داركيسة	dārkīsa		Amar, 2017

Chinese #

script	term	literal	source
肉豆蔻	ròudòukòu	flesh-bean-cardamom	Defrancis, 2003
肉荳蔻籽粉	ròudòukòuzǐfěn	flesh-bean-cardamom-seed-powder	Kleeman, 2010

POWO. (2022). Plants of the World Online (Botanical Database). Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. http://www.plantsoftheworldonline.org/ ↩︎
van Wyk, B.-E. (2014). Culinary Herbs and Spices of the World. University of Chicago Press, joint publication with the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. https://doi.org/10.7208/chicago/9780226091839.001.0001 ↩︎
Medicinal Spices Exhibit. (2002). UCLA Biomedical Library: History & Special Collections. https://unitproj.library.ucla.edu/biomed/spice/index.cfm?spicefilename=taste.txt&itemsuppress=yes&displayswitch=0 ↩︎