WotD: gamboge

[muckefuck]

1. das Gummigutt
2. de guttegom
3. la gutagamba, la (goma)guta
4. la gomaguta
5. la gomme-gutte
6. an chambóid
7. y gamboge
8. gumiguta
9. 등황 (藤黃), 캄보즈
10. 藤黃 ténghuáng
11. 雌黄 (しおう)

Notes: This is a special request for monshu, who's been leisurely making his way through Dalby's Tale of Murasaki. Like me, he'd heard the term "gamboge" before, but never had a clear idea what it was. I somehow got the notion that it was a type of silk like "pongee" or "shantung". It's not, it's a dyestuff and--by association--the deep yellow hue it produces or something dyed in this hue.

I need to confirm the Japanese term, since 雌黄 was pulled off of Wiktionary and in Chinese the term refers to an entirely different yellow dyestuff, orpiment. The Catalan is also merely a guess based on the Spanish--whose variants are amusing to me. Speaking of which, the Old Man was tickled by the multiplicity of forms for "gamboge". In addition to the chief one, the OED lists cambodia, cambogium, camboge, cambugium, gambaugium, gambogia, gambozia, gamboidea, gambogium, gumbouge, gambouge, gamboge, gambooge, and gambugia.

Comments

[tyrannio.livejournal.com]

I know "gamboge" primarily as a souring agent. I've heard it called "goraka" by Sinhalese Sri Lankans, and I'm told it's available in Chicago. (Strangely enough, I've never eaten it, but I like the closely related kokum.