![]() ![]() English reborrowed the word in the 13th century from Old French gingivre, which combined with the descendant of the Old English form to produce Middle English gingivere – whence modern English ginger. ![]() In post-classical times the Latin form developed to gingiber or gingiver, which Old English borrowed as gingifer. This passed via Prakrit singabēra and Greek ziggíberis into Latin as zinziberi. Its ultimate source was Sanskrit śrñgavēram, a compound formed from śrñgam ‘horn’ and vēra- ‘body’ the term was applied to ‘ginger’ because of the shape of its edible root. And deservedly so, for its ancestry is extraordinarily complex. Ginger Few foodstuffs can have been as exhaustively etymologized as ginger – Professor Alan Ross, for instance, begetter of the U/non-U distinction, wrote an entire 74-page monograph on the history of the word in 1952. The story can be unpicked here (with reference to the table of abbreviations), but Ayto explains things naturally and with context. ![]() This is a model that has been followed by most similar works. ‘horn-shaped,’ from the horns on it.-Skt. Look up ginger, for instance, in a classic like Skeat 1884 and you'll get this: Unlike traditional dictionaries of this kind, which work backwards in time, Ayto begins at the beginning and works forwards, which has the effect of revealing the etymology to be a kind of narrative. Look up ginger, for instance, in a classic like Skeat 1884 and you'll get this: Ginger One of the better etymological dictionaries of English, not because it's especially comprehensive but on the contrary because it takes a smallish selection (around 8,000 words only) and treats each entry in detail. One of the better etymological dictionaries of English, not because it's especially comprehensive but on the contrary because it takes a smallish selection (around 8,000 words only) and treats each entry in detail. ![]()
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