Definitions
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A recent form of columbo, the common name for the root of Jateorhiza palmata and other plants. See columbo.
Wiktionary
- n. medicine, archaic The bitter root of a plant (Jateorhiza calumba, and probably Cocculus palmatus), indigenous to Mozambique, and used as a tonic and antiseptic.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. (Med.) 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.
Etymologies
- From its native name in Mozambique. (Wiktionary)
Examples
“The India-rubber is made into balls for a game resembling “fives,” and calumba — root is said to be used as a mordant for certain colours, but not as a dye itself.”
A Popular Account of Dr. Livingstone's Expedition to the Zambesi and Its Tributaries
“Caoutchouc, or India-rubber, is found in abundance inland from Shupanga-house, and calumba-root is plentiful in the district; indigo, in quantities, propagates itself close to the banks of the Aver, and was probably at some time cultivated, for manufactured indigo was once exported.”
A Popular Account of Dr. Livingstone's Expedition to the Zambesi and Its Tributaries
“Pill hydrarg, to-night, and to-morrow morning a delicious goblet before breakfast -- sulph mag, tinct sennae, ditto calumba.”
“The India-rubber is made into balls for a game resembling "fives," and calumba-root is said to be used as a mordant for certain colours, but not as a dye itself.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘calumba’.
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The Aubrey/Maturin List I'm Gonna Mak...
I'm wading through Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin novels one by one, and someday, I'll wade through them again and list all the words I learned while reading them.
Edit: I started ma...studdingsail, carronade, mumchance, grumlin-futtocks, crosscat-harpings, holystone, sennit, orlop, orchitis, negus, kevel, altumal and 1112 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for calumba.
chained_bear "'We shall treat the indisposition as a case of nascent yellow fever, and I shall dose myself accordingly. Have we any calumba root left?'"
—P. O'Brian, The Commodore, 225
A Sea of Words: Columbo root, prescribed as a mild astringent tonic. (128) Mar 17, 2008