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ginger

Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A plant (Zingiber officinale) of tropical Southeast Asia having yellowish-green flowers and a pungent aromatic rhizome.
  • noun The rhizome of this plant, often dried and powdered and used as a spice.
  • noun Any of several related plants having variously colored, often fragrant flowers.
  • noun Wild ginger.
  • noun A strong brown.
  • noun Informal Spirit and liveliness; vigor.
  • transitive verb To spice with ginger.
  • transitive verb Informal To make lively.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Brittle; tender; delicate.
  • noun In the West Indies, any one of several species belonging to the genera Costus and Alpinia (Renealmia of many authors).
  • To put some ‘ginger’ into (a person); shake up; revive.
  • noun The rhizome, and also the light-yellow substance of the rhizome, of Zingiber officinale a reed-like perennial plant with annual leafy stems 3 or 4 feet high, and flowers in conical spikes borne on distinct leafless stems.
  • Made of or flavored with ginger.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Bot.) A plant of the genus Zingiber, of the East and West Indies. The species most known is Zingiber officinale.
  • noun The hot and spicy rootstock of Zingiber officinale, which is much used in cookery and in medicine.
  • noun See ginger beer, below.
  • noun a mild beer impregnated with ginger.
  • noun a liquor made from ginger, raisins, lemon rind, and water, and sometimes whisky or brandy.
  • noun See Ginger ale (above).
  • noun wine impregnated with ginger.
  • noun (Bot.) an American herb (Asarum Canadense) with two reniform leaves and a long, cordlike rootstock which has a strong taste of ginger.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun UK, Cockney rhyming slang a homosexual.
  • adjective UK, Cockney rhyming slang homosexual.
  • verb To move gingerly.
  • noun Any plant of a genus (Zingiber, especially Zingiber officinale) of tropical Asiatic and Polynesian herbs of a family (Zingiberaceae, the ginger family) with pungent aromatic rhizomes used as a condiment and as a stimulant and acarminative.
  • noun The rhizome of this plant used as a spice either as it is or in dried powdered form.
  • noun A reddish-brown colour/color.
  • noun colloquial, countable A person with reddish-brown hair; a redhead.
  • noun colloquial, uncountable vitality, vigour, liveliness (of character)
  • adjective Of a reddish-brown colour.
  • adjective flavoured with ginger.
  • verb To add ginger to.
  • verb To enliven, to spice (up).

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun liveliness and energy
  • adjective (used especially of hair or fur) having a bright orange-brown color
  • verb add ginger to in order to add flavor
  • noun dried ground gingerroot
  • noun perennial plants having thick branching aromatic rhizomes and leafy reedlike stems
  • noun pungent rhizome of the common ginger plant; used fresh as a seasoning especially in Asian cookery

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English gingivere, from Old English gingifer and from Old French gingivre, both from Medieval Latin gingiber, from Latin zingiberi, from Greek zingiberis, of Middle Indic origin (akin to Pali singiveram), from Dravidian : akin to Tamil iñci, ginger (of southeast Asian origin) + Tamil vēr, root.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Cockney rhyming slang: ginger beer = queer

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Middle English gingere, alteration of gingivere, from late Old English gingifer, gingiber (influenced by Old French gingibre), from Medieval Latin gingiber, zingeber, from Latin zingiberi, from Late Greek ζιγγίβερις (zingíberis), from Middle Indic (cf. Pali siṅgivēra, Sanskrit शृङ्गवेर (śṛṅgavera)) (influenced by शृङ्गं (śṛṅgaṃ) ‘horn’), from Old Tamil iṅci vēr, literally, ‘ginger root’ (mod. Tamil இஞ்சி (iṅci) வேர் (ver)).

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Examples

Comments

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  • tiggytig commented on the word ginger

    gin·ger /ˈdʒɪndʒər/ jin-jer –noun

    A person of pale yet muddled (freckled) complexion, therewith born with red, but truthfully bright orange or ginger, colored hair. Although often subclassified as a redhead, this genus is technically a distant relative to the redhaired subspecies of human.

    For disambiguation please see Carrot Top, Ron Weasley, and Chucky Finster.

    October 22, 2008

  • pterodactyl commented on the word ginger

    So, this word can refer to people, not just to food? Huh. This comes as a surprise to my American ears. It sounds funny to talk about a "ginger" person.

    Also, can someone please explain to me whether "ginger", in this sense, is pejorative?

    January 28, 2010

  • bilby commented on the word ginger

    Not pejorative in Australia.

    January 29, 2010

  • yarb commented on the word ginger

    As a noun it whiffs rather of mockery to my ear. As an adjective describing what in America is called a redhead, no, it's perfectly normal.

    January 29, 2010

  • mollusque commented on the word ginger

    It's not usually pejorative, but it can be used pejoratively, just as blonde can (example.)

    January 29, 2010

  • jodi commented on the word ginger

    IrE for red hair or (AmE) red-head (i.e. red-headed person)

    April 27, 2011

  • chained_bear commented on the word ginger

    As for the spice, and how it was packed for long-distance transport, a note can be found on fondaci. Another on how to determine freshness is on gum arabic. On its famed use in Nuremberg spiced Christmas cakes, see gingerbread. Another interesting note can be found on garbling. Value relative to other spices, sueldos carlines.

    November 28, 2017