galangal
/ɡəˈlæŋɡəl/ noun
Forms galangals galingale galanga
- noun Any of several east Asian plants of genera Alpinia and Kaempferia in the ginger family, used as a spice, but principally Alpinia galanga.
Synonyms
Etymology
From Middle English galyngale, from Old French galingal, from Arabic خَلَنْجَان (ḵalanjān), from Persian قولنجان (qulenjân, qulanjân), from Sanskrit कुलञ्जन (kulañjana), perhaps from Chinese 高良薑/高良姜 (gāoliángjiāng), from 高涼 /高凉 (Gāoliáng) (a prefecture or county in China) + 薑 /姜 (jiāng, “ginger”).
Webster’s 1913
- noun The pungent aromatic rhizome or tuber of certain East Indian or Chinese species of Alpinia (A. Galanga and A. officinarum) and of the Kæmpferia Galanga), --all of the Ginger family.
Etymology [OE. galingale, OF. galingal, garingal, F. galanga (cf. Sp. galanga), prob. fr. Ar. khalanj.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “galangal”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details