chaulmoogra

American  

[chawl-moo-gruh] / tʃɔlˈmu grə /

noun

1. any of several trees of the genus Hydnocarpus (orTaraktogenos ), of southeastern Asia, especially H. kurzii, the seeds of which yield chaulmoogra oil.

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chaulmoogra British  

/ tʃɔːlˈmuːɡrə /

noun

1. a tropical Asian tree, Taraktogenos (or Hydnocarpus ) kurzii: family Flacourtiaceae

2. oil from the seed of this tree, used in treating leprosy

3. any of several similar or related trees

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Etymology

Origin of chaulmoogra

First recorded in 1805–15, chaulmoogra is from the Bengali word cālmugrā

Example Sentences

During the time of Ball’s chaulmoogra research, leprosy was still steeped in stigma, just as it was in the biblical era.

From New York Times • Apr. 8, 2023

For centuries, chaulmoogra tree oil had been known as a nasty medicine — foul-tasting and stomach-wrenching, it was so vile that some people refused to take it.

From New York Times • Apr. 8, 2023

While she was an instructor at the College of Hawaii in 1915, Ball invented a process for producing an anti-leprosy drug from the tropical chaulmoogra tree.

From Nature • May 17, 2020

For example, the thickness, or viscosity, of the chaulmoogra oil was due to its intermolecular forces.

From Textbooks • Feb. 14, 2019

XV, pages 771-772, sets forth the participation of Alice Ball, a scholarly Negro chemist, in the treatment of leprosy through the use of chaulmoogra oil extracted by a difficult scientific process.

From The Journal of Negro History, Volume 7, 1922 by Various