calabash

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Jump to navigation Jump to search

English

[edit]
WOTD – 7 August 2019

Etymology

[edit]
The calabash orcalabash tree(Crescentia cujete;sense 1) and its fruit
The calabash,calabash vine,orbottle gourd(Lagenaria siceraria;sense 2) and its fruit
Calabashes(sense 3),containersmade from fruits of the calabash tree, fromTabasco,Mexico
Anipu,aHawaiiancalabash(sense 5)often used to provide abeatforhuladancing.It is made from two fruit of the calabash vine joined together

FromFrenchcalebasse,fromSpanishcalabaza(“gourd; pumpkin”),possibly fromArabicقَرْعَةٌيَابِسَةٌ(qarʕatun yābisatun,“dry gourd”)or directly from itsetymonPersianخربزه(xarboze,“melon”),[1][2]possibly ultimately fromSanskritत्रपुस(trapusa,“colocynth fruit”)(comparePersianتربزه(tarboze,“watermelon”)). The English word is cognate withCatalancarabassa(“pumpkin; orange colour”),Galiciancabaza(“gourd, pumpkin, squash; calabash (container)”),Occitancalebasso,carabasso,carbasso,Portuguesecabaça(“gourd; calabash (container)”),Siciliancaravazza(andcaramazza).[1]

Pronunciation

[edit]

Noun

[edit]

calabash(pluralcalabashes)

  1. Atree(known as thecalabash tree;Crescentia cujete)nativetoCentralandSouth America,theWest Indies,and southernFlorida,bearinglarge,roundfruitused to makecontainers(sense 3);the fruit of this tree.
    • 1821,Alexander de Humboldt [i.e.,Alexander von Humboldt],Aimé Bonpland,chapter XXI, inHelen Maria Williams,transl.,Personal Narrative of Travels to the Equinoctial Regions of the New Continent, during the Years 1799–1804.[...]Written in French[…],and Translated into English[…],volume V, London: Printed forLongman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown,[…],→OCLC,book VII,page129:
      As we were absolutely destitute of large vessels, to contain and mix liquids, we poured, by means of atutuma(fruit ofcrescentia cujete,calabash), the water of the river into one of the holes of the rock. To this we added sugar, and the juice of acid fruits. In a few minutes we had an excellent beverage, which was almost a refinement of luxury in that wild spot;[…]
    • 1870,“Goso, the Teacher”, inEdward Steere,transl.,Swahili Tales, as Told by Natives of Zanzibar. With an English Translation,London:Bell & Daldy,[…],→OCLC,page287:
      There was a teacher who taught children to read under acalabashtree, and this teacher's name was Goso.
  2. Thebottle gourd(calabash vine,Lagenaria siceraria), believed to haveoriginatedinAfrica,which is grown for its fruit that are used as avegetableand to make containers(sense 3);the fruit of this plant.
    Synonyms:(India)dudhi,(India)lauki
    • 1839January,“L.”,“The Calabash (Cucurbita Lagenaria)”, inThe Visitor, or Monthly Instructor,London:The Religious Tract Society;[...]sold by John Davis,[…],→OCLC,page75:
      Thecalabash,is a kind of gourd, and belongs to that family of twining plants which were called among the Hebrews, "wild vines," but by the botanists of modern times, thecucurbitaceæ,or cucurbitaceous plants.[…]That playful variety of form and magnitude, so remarkable in thecalabash,renders it fit for all kinds of uses. Sometimes we have a globular base, terminating in a long neck, and then it answers the purpose of a bottle, and the American fastens it to his girdle, or the pommel of his saddle, when about to pass through regions which abound not in water.
    • 2008,James A. Duke,with Peggy-Ann K. Duke and Judith L. duCellie, “Catalog of ‘Faith-based’ Farmaceuticals”, inDuke’s Handbook of Medicinal Plants of the Bible,Boca Raton, Fla.:CRC Press,→ISBN,page233:
      CALABASHGOURD (LAGENARIA SICERARIA)[…]Appropriately bowing to AHP, theAmerican Herbal Products Association,for the betterment of the herbal industry, I will now use its standardized common name,CalabashGourd, a vine, not to be confused with the Calabash tree (Crescentia).
    • 2009,Charlie Nardozzi and editors of the National Gardening Association, “Sweet Corn and an A to T of Other Worthy Veggies”, inVegetable Gardening for Dummies(For Dummiesseries), 2nd edition, Hoboken, N.J.:Wiley Publishing,→ISBN,part II (Vegging Out),page167:
      Asian gourds grow like cucumbers[…]and feature strong flavors that are often used in Indian, Chinese, and Southeast Asian soups and stews. Some types to try in your garden include the bitter gourd andcalabashgourd.
  3. A container made from themature,driedshellof the fruit of one of the above plants; also, a similarlyshapedcontainer made from some othermaterial.
    • 1720,[Daniel Defoe],The Life, Adventures, and Pyracies, of the Famous Captain Singleton,London:[…]J[ohn]Brotherton,[…],J[ohn]Graves[…],A[nne]Dodd,[…],and T[homas]Warner,[…],→OCLC,page304:
      OnSunday,Oct.12. being ſtored vvith all things needful for their Journey,viz.Ten Days Proviſion, a Baſin to boil their Provision in, twoCalabaſhesto fetch VVater in, and tvvo greatTallipatLeaves for Tents, with Jaggory, Svveet-meats, Tobacco, Betell, Tinder-Boxes, and a Deer-Skin for Shoes, to keep their Feet from Thorns, becauſe to them they chiefly truſted.
    • 1799,Mungo Park,“Of Gold-dust, and the Manner in which It is Collected.—Process of Washing it.—[…]”,inTravels in the Interior Districts of Africa: Performed under the Direction and Patronage of the African Association, in the Years 1795, 1796, and 1797.[…],London: Printed byW[illiam] Bulmer and Co.for the author; and sold byG[eorge]and W[illiam]Nicol,[…],→OCLC,page302:
      [T]he manner of separating the gold from the sand, is very simple, and is frequently performed by the women in the middle of the town; for when the searchers return from the valleys in the evening, they commonly bring with them each acalabashor two of sand, to be washed by such of the females as remain at home.
    • 1851November 14,Herman Melville,“Wheelbarrow” and “The Prophet”, inMoby-Dick; or, The Whale,1st American edition, New York, N.Y.:Harper & Brothers;London:Richard Bentley,→OCLC,pages65 and 105:
      [page 65] The people of his island of Rokovoko, it seems, at their wedding feasts express the fragrant water of young cocoanuts into a large stainedcalabashlike a punchbowl; and this punchbowl always forms the great central ornament on the braided mat where the feast is held.[…][page 105] [I]t seemed to me that he was dogging us, but with what intent I could not for the life of me imagine. This circumstance, coupled with his ambiguous, half-hinting, half-revealing, shrouded sort of talk, now begat in me all kinds of vague wonderments and half-apprehensions, and all connected with the Pequod; and Captain Ahab; and the leg he had lost; and the Cape Horn fit; and the silvercalabash;[…]
    • 1997,Olajire Olanlokun, chapter 3, in Karen Morrison, editor,The Missing Calabash,Oxford, Gaborone, Botswana:Heinemann Educational Publishers,→ISBN,page13:
      Saje put thecalabashin the king's hands. There was a hush from the crowd. Thecalabashwas large and painted with beautiful designs. Few people had seen it up close.
    • 2003,Gabriel García Márquez,chapter 2, inEdith Grossman,transl.,Living to Tell the Tale: Translated from the Spanish,New York, N.Y.:Alfred A. Knopf,→ISBN:
      [...] we would pour water from the tank over ourselves with acalabashand finish by splashing on the Agua Florida from Lanman & Kemps[…]
    • 2009January 7, Mike Pflanz, “Nigerian motorcyclists arrested for wearing pumpkin helmets”, inThe Daily Telegraph‎[1],London:Telegraph Media Group,→ISSN,→OCLC,archived fromthe originalon22 May 2010:
      [T]he motorcycle drivers say that new helmets are too expensive and instead have been found wearing pumpkin-likecalabashes– dried fruit shells usually used to carry water – cooking pots tied with string or strips of rubber from old tyres.
  4. A calabash and itscontents;as much asfillssuch a container.
  5. (music)Amusical instrument,most commonly adrumorrattle,made from a calabash fruit.
    • 1814,Jerom Merolla da Sorrento, “A Voyage to Congo, and Several Other Countries, Chiefly in Southern Africk.[…]”,inJohn Pinkerton,A General Collection of the Best and Most Interesting Voyages and Travels in All Parts of the World;[…],volume XVI, London: Printed forLongman, Hurst, Rees, Orme,and Brown,[…];andCadell and Davies,[…],→OCLC,page245:
      The inſtrument moſt in requeſt uſed by the Abundi, being the people of the kingdom of Angola, Matamba, and others, is the Marimba; it conſiſts of ſixteencalabaſhesorderly placed along the middle between two ſide-boards joined together, or a long frame, hanging about a man's neck with a thong. Over the mouths of thecalabaſhesthere are thin ſounding ſlips of red wood called Tanilla, a little above a ſpan long, which being beaten with two little ſticks, returns a ſound from thecalabaſhesof ſeveral ſizes not unlike an organ.

Derived terms

[edit]

Translations

[edit]
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions atWiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked

References

[edit]
  1. ↑1.01.1“calabash,n.”,inOED OnlinePaid subscription required⁠,Oxford, Oxfordshire:Oxford University Press,1888.
  2. ^“calabash,n.”,inLexico,Dictionary;Oxford University Press,2019–2022.

Further reading

[edit]
Retrieved from "https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=calabash&oldid=81642829"