curcuma

[ kur-kyoo-muh ]

noun
  1. any of various chiefly Old World plants belonging to the genus Curcuma, of the ginger family, as C. domestica, yielding turmeric, or C. zedoaria, yielding zedoary.

Origin of curcuma

1
1610–20; <New Latin <Arabic kurkum saffron, turmeric; cf. crocus

Words Nearby curcuma

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use curcuma in a sentence

  • Other changes of vegetables from climate or other causes are remarked in the note on curcuma in the same work.

    Evolution, Old &amp; New | Samuel Butler
  • When a ponçeau red is wanted, two ounces of pounded curcuma (turmeric) should be added.

  • An orange tinge is derived from the turmeric extracted from the short root stocks of a plant of the genus curcuma.

    Oriental Rugs | Walter A. Hawley
  • Turmeric is the root portion of a plant called curcuma tinctoria, that grows in Southern Asia.

  • Turmeric is a powder obtained from the ground-up tubers of curcuma tinctoria, a plant found in India and other Eastern countries.

    Vegetable Dyes | Ethel M. Mairet

British Dictionary definitions for curcuma

curcuma

/ (ˈkɜːkjʊmə) /


noun
  1. any tropical Asian tuberous plant of the genus Curcuma, such as C. longa, which is the source of turmeric, and C. zedoaria, which is the source of zedoary: family Zingiberaceae

Origin of curcuma

1
C17: from New Latin, from Arabic kurkum turmeric

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012