CALUMBA

Etymology

From its native name in Mozambique.

Noun

calumba (uncountable)

(medicine, archaic) The bitter root of a plant (Jateorhiza palmata), indigenous to Mozambique, and used as a tonic and antiseptic.

Anagrams

• Cambalu

Source: Wiktionary


Ca*lum"ba, n. Etym: [from kalumb, its native name in Mozambique.] (Med.)

Definition: The root of a plant (Jateorrhiza Calumba, and probably Cocculus palmatus), indigenous in Mozambique. It has an unpleasantly bitter taste, and is used as a tonic and antiseptic. [Written also colombo, columbo, and calombo.] American calumba, the Frasera Carolinensis, also called American gentian. Its root has been used in medicine as bitter tonic in place of calumba.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

4 April 2025

GUILLOTINE

(verb) kill by cutting the head off with a guillotine; “The French guillotined many Vietnamese while they occupied the country”


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Coffee Trivia

Coffee has initially been a food – chewed, not sipped. Early African tribes consume coffee by grinding the berries together, adding some animal fat, and rolling the treats into tiny edible energy balls.

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