Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A recent form of
columbo , the common name for the root of Jateorhiza palmata and other plants. Seecolumbo .
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Med.) The root of a plant (
Jateorrhiza Calumba , and probablyCocculus palmatus ), indigenous in Mozambique. It has an unpleasantly bitter taste, and is used as a tonic and antiseptic. - noun the
Frasera Carolinensis , also calledAmerican gentian . Its root has been used in medicine as bitter tonic in place ofcalumba .
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun medicine, archaic The
bitter root of aplant (Jateorhiza calumba, and probably Cocculus palmatus),indigenous toMozambique , and used as atonic andantiseptic .
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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The India-rubber is made into balls for a game resembling “fives,” and calumba — root is said to be used as a mordant for certain colours, but not as a dye itself.
A Popular Account of Dr. Livingstone's Expedition to the Zambesi and Its Tributaries 2004
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Caoutchouc, or India-rubber, is found in abundance inland from Shupanga-house, and calumba-root is plentiful in the district; indigo, in quantities, propagates itself close to the banks of the Aver, and was probably at some time cultivated, for manufactured indigo was once exported.
A Popular Account of Dr. Livingstone's Expedition to the Zambesi and Its Tributaries 2004
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Pill hydrarg, to-night, and to-morrow morning a delicious goblet before breakfast -- sulph mag, tinct sennae, ditto calumba.
In Honour's Cause A Tale of the Days of George the First George Manville Fenn 1870
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The India-rubber is made into balls for a game resembling "fives," and calumba-root is said to be used as a mordant for certain colours, but not as a dye itself.
A Popular Account of Dr. Livingstone's Expedition to the Zambesi and its tributaries And of the Discovery of Lakes Shirwa and Nyassa, 1858-1864 David Livingstone 1843
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Caoutchouc, or India-rubber, is found in abundance inland from Shupanga-house, and calumba-root is plentiful in the district; indigo, in quantities, propagates itself close to the banks of the Aver, and was probably at some time cultivated, for manufactured indigo was once exported.
A Popular Account of Dr. Livingstone's Expedition to the Zambesi and its tributaries And of the Discovery of Lakes Shirwa and Nyassa, 1858-1864 David Livingstone 1843
chained_bear commented on the word calumba
"'We shall treat the indisposition as a case of nascent yellow fever, and I shall dose myself accordingly. Have we any calumba root left?'"
—P. O'Brian, The Commodore, 225
A Sea of Words: Columbo root, prescribed as a mild astringent tonic. (128)
March 18, 2008