Turmeric #
Illustration of Curcuma longa L. from Köhler's Medizinal-Pflanzen (1887)
Turmeric (Curcuma longa L.) is a culinary and medicinal and ritualistic spice and dye from the Zingiberaceae family,1 originating in the region(s) of India.2 It is used for its rhizome, primarily for curries, dye; antiseptic. Its aroma is described as warm, acrid, bitter, with a heat index of 3.3
| English | Arabic | Chinese | Hungarian |
|---|---|---|---|
| turmeric | كركم | 薑黃 | kurkuma |
Overview #
| id | turmeric |
|---|---|
| species name | Curcuma longa L. |
| family | Zingiberaceae |
| part used | rhizome |
| macroarea | Asia |
| region of origin | India |
| cultivation | China; Honduras; India; Indonesia; Jamaica |
| color | orange-yellow |
| botanical database | POWO |
Etymologies #
English turmeric ’turmeric’, obscure origin (by alteration of earlier forms), 1545 < akin to French terre mérite ‘saffron’ [worthy earth ] < and Medieval Latin terra merita ’turmeric’ [deserved earth ] < Arabic kurkum ’turmeric; saffron’, maybe a folk-etymological corruption
Arabic كركم kurkum ’turmeric; saffron’; cf. cognates Hebrew karkom; Aramaic / kurkmā; Akkadian kurkanū < Sanskrit कुङ्कुम kuṅkuma ‘saffron’
Names #
English #
| term | source |
|---|---|
| turmeric | OED |
| Indian saffron | OED |
| curcuma | OED |
Arabic #
| script | term | literal | source |
|---|---|---|---|
| كركم | kurkum | Wehr, 1976 | |
| أصابع صفر | aṣābiʿ ṣufr | yellow fingers | Wikipedia |
| عقدة صفراء | ʿuqda ṣafrā' | yellow knob | Baalbaki, 1995 |
| عروق صفر | ʿurūq ṣufr | yellow roots | Amar, 2017 |
| زعفران هندي | zaʿfarān hindī | Indian saffron | Amar, 2017 |
| شجرة الخطاطيف | shajarat al-khaṭāṭīf | tree of hooks | Amar, 2017 |
| هرد | hurd | Lane, 1863 |
Chinese #
| script | term | literal | source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 薑黃 | jiānghuáng | ginger-yellow | Kleeman, 2010 |
| 黃薑 | huángjiāng | yellow-ginger | Defrancis, 2003 |
| 鬱金 | yùjīn | yü-gold | Schafer, 1985 |
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 ↩︎