ginger English · revision 15114

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1000|origins=grc ζιγγίβερις}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /ˈdʒɪn.dʒə/, US /ˈdʒɪn.dʒɚ/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|gingivere]], [[inh|ang|gingifer]], also [[m|ang|gingiber]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024) influenced in Middle English by [[fro|gingibre]] (modern [[fr|gingembre]]).^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(NODE 1998) The Old English word is [[bor|la-med|gingiber]], from [[la|zingiberi]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) from [[grc|ζιγγίβερις|tr=zingíberis]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) from a Middle Indic word known from Pali and Prakrit.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(NODE 1998) Sanskrit renders it as a compound of words for horn and body, from the shape of the root,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) but this may be folk etymology, and the word probably goes back to Dravidian words for ginger and root.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(NODE 1998)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The rhizome of the ginger plant, used as a spice: about 1000.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Middle English gingivre is probably from before 1200, in the Ancrene Riwle and Layamon, and gynger from 1363–64.^(Barnhart 1988) The plant itself is ginger from before 1366.^(OED 1989) A red-haired person or a cock with reddish feathers is from 1785,^(OED 1989) a showy, fast horse from 1825, spirit or mettle from 1843, and a sandy colour from 1865.^(OED 1989) The verb, to treat a horse with ginger, and so to spirit up, is from the 19th century.^(Hoad 1986) A ''ginger group'', a pressure group within a party, is from the early 20th century.^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1000 – ginger, the spice.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * before 1366 – the ginger plant.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1785 – a red-haired person.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1843 – spirit, mettle.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1865 – a sandy colour.^(OED 1989)

+ * early 20th century – ginger group.^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A tropical Southeast Asian plant, ''Zingiber officinale'', with a pungent, aromatic [[rhizome]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # The rhizome of this plant, used fresh or powdered as a spice, or crystallized as a sweet.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A light reddish or sandy colour.^(OED 1989)

+ # ''(informal)'' Spirit; [[mettle]].^(OED 1989)

+ # A red-haired person.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To flavour with ginger.^(AHD)

+ # To make lively, often with ''up''.^(AHD)^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[gingery]]

+ * [[gingerbread]]

+ * [[ginger lily]]

+ * [[ginger ale]]

+ * [[ginger beer]]

+ * [[ginger group]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[galangal]]

+ * [[gingerly]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Gingerly, cautiously, is unrelated; it is from the early 16th century and of unknown origin.^(Cresswell 2021) In dialects of northern and Midland England, ginger as an adjective meant careful or tender.^(Wright 1898) The CEPD gives a separate pronunciation, /ˈɡɪŋ.ə/, for ginger as a name for a red-haired person.^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}