English Explanatory Dictionary

bamboo

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. Any of the fast-growing grasses of the Bambusoideae subfamily, characterised by its woody, hollow, round, straight, jointed stem.
  2. Wood of the bamboo plant as a material for building, furniture, etc.
  3. A stick, rod, pole, or cane of bamboo, especially one used as a vessel for liquids, or as a tool for corporal punishment.
  4. A didgeridoo.
  5. A member of the British military or British East India Company who spent so much time in Indonesia, India, or Malaysia that they never went back home.
adj
  1. Made of the wood of the bamboo.
verb
  1. To flog with a bamboo cane.
  2. To paint (furniture, etc.) to give it the appearance of bamboo.
  3. To penetrate sexually.

Pronunciation

băm-bo͞oʹ /bæmˈbu/ en-us-bamboo.ogg /ˈbambu/

Word forms

bamboo bamboos bambou bambu bambooing bambooed

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Dravidian *wē Proto-Dravidian *mpu Proto-Dravidian *wēmpu Tamil வேம்பு (vēmpu)bor. ▲ Proto-Dravidian *wēmpu Kannada ಬಂಬು (bambu)bor. Malay bambubor. Portuguese bambubor. Dutch bamboebor. English bamboo Borrowed from Dutch bamboe, from Portuguese bambu, from Malay bambu, from Kannada ಬಂಬು (bambu), variant form of ಬೇವು (bēvu). Cognate with Malayalam വേപ്പ് (vēppŭ), Telugu వేప (vēpa), from Proto-Dravidian *wēmpu (“neem”).

Derived words

African alpine bamboo African bamboo Andean bamboo arrow bamboo bamboo antshrike bamboo baksheesh bamboo ceiling bamboo clam bamboo coral Bamboo Curtain bamboo diplomacy bambooey bamboo fern bamboo grass bamboo hair bambooish bamboo lemur bamboolike bamboo man bamboo palm bamboo partridge bamboo rat bamboo shark bamboo shoot bamboo torture bamboo vine bambooware bamboo wife Bengal bamboo Bindura bamboo black bamboo broadleaf bamboo Buddha belly bamboo Calcutta bamboo cherry-merry-bamboo chino bamboo common bamboo dragon bamboo Drakensberg bamboo female bamboo fishpole bamboo giant bamboo giant thorny bamboo giant timber bamboo golden bamboo greater bamboo lemur heavenly bamboo hedge bamboo henon bamboo Indian thorny bamboo Kuril bamboo lucky bamboo Makino bamboo male bamboo marble bamboo Mexican bamboo Mexican weeping bamboo moso bamboo narihira bamboo Oldham’s bamboo
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