English
ginger
Ginger comes from Late Latin gingiber, and goes back to Old Tamil ๐๐๐๐๐บ๐ฏ๐๐ญ๐.
- Old Tamilmodern๐๐๐๐๐บ๐ฏ๐๐ญ๐
- Sauraseni Prakritmodern๐ฒ๐บ๐๐๐บ๐ฏ๐๐ญ
- Ancient Greekc. 800โ300 BCEฮถฮนฮณฮณฮฏฮฒฮตฯฮนฯzingรญberis
- Latinc. 75 BCEโ200 CEzingiberi
- Late Latinc. 200โ600 CEgingiber
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200โ500 CE*gingiberลreconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450โ1150gingifer
- Middle Englishc. 1150โ1500gingivere
- Middle English, derivedc. 1150โ1500gingere
- Englishearliest quotation 1850ginger
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Old Tamilmodern๐๐๐๐๐บ๐ฏ๐๐ญ๐
- Sauraseni Prakritmodern๐ฒ๐บ๐๐๐บ๐ฏ๐๐ญ
- Ancient Greekc. 800โ300 BCEฮถฮนฮณฮณฮฏฮฒฮตฯฮนฯzingรญberis
- Latinc. 75 BCEโ200 CEzingiberi
- Late Latinc. 200โ600 CEgingiber
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200โ500 CE*gingiberลreconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450โ1150gingifer
- Middle Englishc. 1150โ1500gingivere
- Middle English, derivedc. 1150โ1500gingere
- Englishearliest quotation 1850ginger
Earliest quotation: 1850, William Percivall, The Veterinarian: โIf he had been gingered, he would have goneโฆโ
The story
Inherited from Middle English gingere, alteration of gingivere, from Old English gingifer, gingiber (influenced by Old French gingembre), from Medieval Latin gingiber, zingiber, from Latin zingiberi, from Late Ancient Greek ฮถฮนฮณฮณฮฏฮฒฮตฯฮนฯ (zingรญberis), from Sauraseni Prakrit ๐ฒ๐บ๐๐๐บ๐ฏ๐๐ญ (siแนgivera), ultimately from Old Tamil ๐๐๐๐๐บ๐ฏ๐๐ญ๐ (iรฑcivฤr), a compound of ๐๐๐๐๐บ (iรฑci, โgingerโ) and ๐ฏ๐๐ญ๐ (vฤr, โrootโ) (compare modern Tamil เฎเฎเฏเฎเฎฟเฎตเฏเฎฐเฏ (iรฑcivฤr), from เฎเฎเฏเฎเฎฟ (iรฑci, โgingerโ) + เฎตเฏเฎฐเฏ (vฤr, โrootโ)).
Every English word from Old Tamil ๐๐๐๐๐บ๐ฏ๐๐ญ๐
Today it means
noun The pungent aromatic rhizome of a tropical Asian herb, Zingiber officinale, used as a spice and as a stimulant and acarminative.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Old Tamil ๐๐๐๐๐บ๐ฏ๐๐ญ๐ / ginger