Log in or Sign up
  1. camphor love

Definitions

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

  1. n. An aromatic crystalline compound, C10H16O, obtained naturally from the wood or leaves of the camphor tree or synthesized and used as an insect repellent, in the manufacture of film, plastics, lacquers, and explosives, and in medicine chiefly in external preparations to relieve mild pain and itching.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

  1. n. A whitish, translucent, volatile substance closely related to the ethereal oils, with a tough crystalline texture, a peculiar penetrating odor, and an aromatic cooling taste, the product of various trees and plants of eastern Asia and the adjacent islands. See camphor-tree. Common or laurel camphor (C10H16O) is distilled from the wood of a lauraceous tree, Cinnamomum camphora, and is obtained in its crude state from Formosa and Japan and afterward refined by sublimation. It is of frequent use in medicine as a nervous stimulant and antispasmodic in typhoid and hysterical states.
  2. To impregnate or wash with camphor; camphorate.

Wiktionary

  1. n. organic chemistry A white transparent waxy crystalline isoprenoid ketone, with a strong pungent odour, used in pharmacy.

GNU Webster's 1913

  1. n. A tough, white, aromatic resin, or gum, obtained from different species of the Laurus family, esp. from Cinnamomum camphara (the Laurus camphora of Linnæus.). Camphor, C10H16O, is volatile and fragrant, and is used in medicine as a diaphoretic, a stimulant, or sedative.
  2. n. originally, a gum resembling ordinary camphor, obtained from a tree (Dryobalanops aromatica formerly Dryobalanops camphora) growing in Sumatra and Borneo; now applied to its main constituent, a terpene alcohol obtainable as a white solid C10H18O, called also Borneo camphor, Malay camphor, Malayan camphor, camphor of Borneo, Sumatra camphor, bornyl alcohol, camphol, and borneol. The isomer from Dryobalanops is dextrorotatory; the levoratatory form is obtainable from other species of plants, and the racemic mixture may be obtained by reduction of camphor. It is used in perfumery, and for manufacture of its esters. See Borneol.
  3. v. rare To impregnate or wash with camphor; to camphorate.

WordNet 3.0

  1. n. a resin obtained from the camphor tree; used in making celluloid and liniment

Etymologies

  1. From Old French camphore or Medieval Latin camphora, from Arabic كافور (kāfūr), from Middle Persian 𐭪𐭠𐭬𐭥𐭫 (kāpūr), ultimately from Malay kapur, possibly via Sanskrit कर्पुर (karpura). (Wiktionary)
  2. Middle English caumfre, from Anglo-Norman, from Medieval Latin camphora, from Arabic kāfūr, possibly from Malay kapur; akin to Sanskrit karpūraḥ. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)

Examples

  • “The juice of which the camphor is made runs out from a hole bored in the upper part of the tree, is received in a vessel, where it grows thick, and becomes what we call camphor; and the juice thus drawn out the tree withers and dies.”

    Fairy Tales from the Arabian Nights

  • “When people went out they wore gauze masks over their nose and mouth, often soaked in camphor or other medicinal substances.”

    A Science Odyssey: People and Discoveries: Worldwide flu pandemic strikes

  • “The word camphor (_kafier_), which is derived from the word _kafr_, means to "suppress or cover.”

    There was a King in Egypt

  • “Like musk, which virgin camphor ne’er lets off it:”

    The Book of The Thousand Nights And A Night

  • “The sap flows from an incision made high up in the tree into a vessel hung there to receive it, and soon hardens into the substance called camphor, but the tree itself withers up and dies when it has been so treated.”

    Still Separate & Unequal

  • “Quails were seen on the march at some distance: it seems to be a great country for potash, and perhaps for camphor, which is evidently abundant in one species of Artemisia.”

    Journals of Travels in Assam, Burma, Bhootan, Afghanistan and the Neighbouring Countries

  • “With a few exceptions, nearly all these powders are nitro compounds, and chiefly consist of some form of nitro-cellulose, either in the form of nitro-cotton or nitro-lignine; or else contain, in addition to the above, nitro-glycerine, with very often some such substance as camphor, which is used to reduce the sensitiveness of the explosive.”

    Nitro-Explosives: A Practical Treatise

  • “Mr F.H. Snyder, of New York, is the inventor of a shell powder known as the "Snyder Explosive," consisting of 94 per cent. nitro-glycerine, 6 per cent. of soluble nitro-cotton, and camphor, which is said to be safe in use.”

    Nitro-Explosives: A Practical Treatise

  • “The slight layer of greasy matter that habitually lines the sides of vessels from whence no effort has been made to remove it, produces effects exactly like those of the oil of camphor, that is to say, that in measure as it becomes thicker it likewise arrests the motions of the concrete volatile essence.”

    Scientific American Supplement, No. 401, September 8, 1883

  • “These cavities contain the camphor in clear crystalline masses, and with it an oil known as camphor oil, that is thought by some to be camphor in an immature form.”

    Among the Trees at Elmridge

Show 10 more examples...

Log in or sign up to add your own related words.

synonyms (1)

Words with the same meaning

  1. camphorate

hypernyms (1)

Words that are more generic or abstract

  1. natural resin

same context (22)

Words that are found in similar contexts

  1. myrrh
  2. cinnamon
  3. musk
  4. turpentine
  1. sulphur
  2. aloes
  3. alum
  4. sandalwood
  1. ambergris
  2. drachm
  3. camphire
  4. resin
  1. oz
  2. saffron
  3. ammonia
  4. beeswax
  1. almond
  2. vinegar
  3. lard
  4. opium
  1. wax
  2. spice

reverse dictionary (108)

Words that contain this word in their definition

  1. camphor
  2. borneol
  3. laurinol
  4. inula camphor
  5. sumatra camphor
  6. alantol
  7. barus camphor
  8. camphol
  9. menthol
  10. camphor-oil
  11. camphor tree
  12. japan camphor
  13. dryobalanops
  14. camphire
  15. camphoraceous
  16. cubeb camphor
  17. ledum camphor
  18. matico camphor
  19. salol camphor
  20. thyme camphor
  21. camfor
  1. camphorous
  2. chloral camphor
  3. colophene camphor
  4. asarone
  5. borneo camphor
  6. camphor oil
  7. pyrethrin
  8. apiol
  9. diosphenol
  10. eugenin
  11. durene
  12. cymene
  13. guncotton
  14. lauraceous
  15. laurus
  16. camphene
  17. camphorate
  18. camphorated oil
  19. camphoric
  20. camphoric acid
  21. camphretic
  1. caryophyllin
  2. celluloid
  3. cryostase
  4. cubebene
  5. deterrent
  6. isoanemonic
  7. myristicol
  8. oxyisocamphor
  9. betulin
  10. bombolo
  11. bumbelo
  12. myrrh-plaster
  13. soap-liniment
  14. camphane
  15. camphidone
  16. camphoid
  17. campholid
  18. campholytic
  19. camphorated
  20. camphorize
  21. camphory
  1. cantharene
  2. carvenone
  3. champacol
  4. characine
  5. choleocamphoric
  6. cochlearin
  7. colloidize
  8. anethol
  9. borneëne
  10. camphic
  11. camphired
  12. camphogen
  13. camphoronic
  14. camphor-wood
  15. hexachloroethane
  16. uncamphorated
  17. naphthalene
  18. mothball
  19. cyclohexanol
  20. camphor ball
  21. camphor ice
  1. cinnamomum camphora
  2. nicotianine
  3. nitrogelatin
  4. opodeldoc
  5. paraxylene
  6. peppermint
  7. phorone
  8. soap liniment
  9. asarin
  10. blasting gelatin
  11. camphrene
  12. emulsion
  13. protection
  14. storm-glass
  15. sublimate
  16. sublime
  17. anthemol
  18. camphor-glass
  19. fenchone
  20. isoborneol
  21. Laurene
  1. oxycamphor
  2. wash
  3. water

tags (3)

Free-form, user-generated categorization

  1. tree
  1. cvcccvc
  1. ph

Log in or sign up to add your own tag.

Wordmap

(beta)

Word visualization

Lists

These user-created lists contain the word ‘camphor’.

More lists containing ‘camphor’

Comments

No comments yet...

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

Tweets

Looking for tweets for camphor.

‘camphor’ has been looked up 3480 times, loved by 2 people, added to 34 lists, and has a Scrabble score of 16.