‖ amomum
(əˈməʊməm)
Rarely in 7 amomus.
[L. amōmum, a. Gr. ἄµωµον applied to some, perhaps several, oriental spice plants.]
An odoriferous plant. The Amomum of the ancients not being certainly identified, the word was used with uncertain denotation by earlier writers; it is now appropriated to a genus of aromatic plants (family Zingiberaceæ) including the species which yield Cardamoms and Grains of Paradise.
| 1398 Trevisa Barth De P.R. xvii. viii. (1495) 607 Amomum hath that name for it smellyth as Canell dooth: that hyghte Cynamun. 1551 Turner Herbal (1568) 26 Amomum is a small bushe.. Some call it a christenmase rose. 1637 Nabbes Microcosm. in Dodsl. IX 140 Perfumes, no Persian aromats, Pontic amomus, or Indian balsam Can imitate. a 1719 Addison Dial. Medals xxiv. (1727) 140 Let Araby extol her happy coast Her Cinnamon and sweet Amomum boast. 1769 Sir J. Hill Fam. Herbal (1812) 8 The common amomum [Sison Amomum] otherwise called bastard stone parsley. 1855 Singleton Virgil I 21 And prickly brier amomum yield. |