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gamboge - 5 dictionary results

gam⋅boge

  [gam-bohj, -boozh]
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–noun
1. Also, cambogia. a gum resin from various Asian trees of the genus Garcinia, esp. G. hanburyi, used as a yellow pigment and as a cathartic.
2. yellow or yellow-orange.
Origin:
1625–35; < NL gambog- (s. of gambogium), var. of cambog-, after Cambodia

Related forms:
gam⋅bo⋅gi⋅an, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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gam·boge   (gām-bōj', -bōōzh')   
n.  
  1. A brownish or orange resin obtained from several trees of the genus Garcinia of south-central Asia and yielding a golden-yellow pigment.
  2. A strong reddish yellow.

[New Latin cambugium, gambogium, after Cambodia.]
gam·boge' adj.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Gamboge

Gam*boge"\, n. A concrete juice, or gum resin, produced by several species of trees in Siam, Ceylon, and Malabar. It is brought in masses, or cylindrical rolls, from Cambodia, or Cambogia, -- whence its name. The best kind is of a dense, compact texture, and of a beatiful reddish yellow. Taking internally, it is a strong and harsh cathartic and emetic. [Written also camboge.]

Note: There are several kinds of gamboge, but all are derived from species of Garcinia, a genus of trees of the order Guttifer[ae]. The best Siam gamboge is thought to come from Garcinia Hanburii. Ceylon gamboge is from G. Morella. G. pictoria, of Western India, yields gamboge, and also a kind of oil called gamboge butter.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Main Entry: gam·boge
Pronunciation: gam-'bOj, -'büzh
Function: noun
: an orange to brown gum resin from southeast Asian trees (genusGarcinia of the family Guttiferae) that is used as a yellow pigment and cathartic called also cambogia
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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gamboge

hard, brittle gum resin that is obtained from various Southeast Asian trees of the genus Garcinia and is used as a colour vehicle and in medicine. Gamboge is orange to brown in colour and when powdered turns bright yellow. Artists use it as a pigment and as a colouring matter for varnishes. In medicine and veterinary medicine it is a drastic cathartic. On the skin it has a severe irritant effect. Gamboge was probably brought into Europe from the East at the close of the 16th century.

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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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