tamarind

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English tamarinde, also thamarynde,^[2][3][4][1] borrowed from Medieval Latin tamarindus,^{[5][6][7][3][2]} also through Old French tamarinde,^[4][8][1][6] which the Anglo-Norman Dictionary records from the second quarter of the 13th century.^[9] The OED compares Spanish tamarindo, Portuguese tamarindo and Italian tamarindo beside the Medieval Latin,^[10] and Merriam-Webster derives the word from the Spanish and Portuguese.^[11] All go back to Arabic تَمْر هِنْدِيّ (tamr hindī, “date of India, Indian date”),^{[10][5][3][12][11][4][1]} from تَمْر (tamr, “dried date”) and هِنْدِيّ (hindī, “of India”),^[12][11][4] formed from the Arabic name of India with the adjective suffix -ī;^[12][11] the second element is related to Hindu.^[3][12] The American Heritage Dictionary explains the name by medieval Arab merchants importing the fruit from India.^[4] Klein relates the first element to the Hebrew, Aramaic, Syriac and Ethiopic words for the date and the date palm.^[12][3] The early herbalists and physicians wrote Medieval Latin tamar indi, and the French version of Marco Polo has tamarandi;^[10][13] modern French tamarin dates from the 15th century.^[10][6][13] Hobson-Jobson suggests that the name may first have meant "fruit of India" rather than "date of India".^[14]

Earliest recorded meaning

The pod-shaped fruit of the tamarind tree, used in medicine: before 1400, in the Middle English Lanfranc.^[2] Etymonline dates it to about 1400,^[3] Barnhart to 1313,^[8] and the OED's first quotation is from Elyot's Castel of Helthe (1539).^[10]

Semantic evolution

The word first named the fruit, which was valued for its laxative and cooling pulp,^[2][10][14] and Middle English had water of tamarindes, a decoction of it.^[2] The tree itself is named from 1614, in Purchas's Pilgrimage.^[10][8][3] From 1833 the name was applied to other trees that resemble the tamarind in some way, as in New South Wales and other parts of Australia.^[10] In 19th-century British underworld slang a tamarind was a woman's watch.^[15]

Timeline

• before 1400 – the fruit of the tamarind, used in medicine.^[2] Etymonline dates it to about 1400 and Barnhart to 1313.^[3][8]
• 1539 – the fruit, in Elyot.^[10]
• 1614 – the tree, in Purchas.^[10][8]
• 1833 – other trees resembling the tamarind.^[10]
• c. 1850 – underworld slang, a woman's watch.^[15]

Meanings

Noun

1. A tropical evergreen tree of the legume family, Tamarindus indica, with feathery leaves, yellow flowers streaked with red, and brown pods: An old tamarind shaded the courtyard.^[16][11][10]
2. The fruit of this tree, a pod with a sour, sticky pulp used in cooking, drinks and medicine.^[16][11][10]
3. The hard yellowish wood of this tree.^[16][11]
4. Any of various other trees, or their fruits, that resemble the tamarind.^[10]

Related words

• Hindu
• India

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
5. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
9. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
10. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
12. ^ a b c d e Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
13. ^ a b Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
14. ^ a b Yule, Henry; Burnell, A. C. (1903), Hobson-Jobson: A Glossary of Colloquial Anglo-Indian Words and Phrases, new ed. by William Crooke, London: John Murray
15. ^ a b Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
16. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins