ginger

B1 Topic:Plants & Agriculture

US /ˈd͡ʒɪnd͡ʒɚ/ UK /ˈdʒɪndʒə/ See IPA manual

Freq #4872

Meanings

1

noun
A spicy root used to flavor food and drinks.

She added fresh ginger to the soup for extra flavor.
2

adj
Having a reddish-orange color, especially hair or fur.

The boy had freckles and bright ginger hair.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

2 adj · having a reddish-orange... gingery

Word family

Forms gingery

Derived forms ginger-hackledginger-hairedginger-popgingeradegingerbreadgingerettegingerismgingeritagingerlikegingermintgingernutgingerol

Related forms feaguegalangalparkinredheadshandyshandygaffturmeric

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

ginger ale
a fizzy drink flavored with ginger

Noun + noun

Simplified etymology

Ginger can be traced through Greek zingiberis to a Sanskrit word and had reached English by the ninth century. Gingerly is unrelated: its origin is unknown, and its sense developed from walking or dancing with small, dainty steps to acting carefully or cautiously.

Etymology

Etymology tree Old Tamil 𑀇𑀜𑁆𑀘𑀺 (iñci) Proto-Dravidian *wēr Old Tamil 𑀯𑁂𑀭𑁆 (vēr) Old Tamil 𑀇𑀜𑁆𑀘𑀺𑀯𑁂𑀭𑁆 (iñcivēr)bor. Sauraseni Prakrit 𑀲𑀺𑀁𑀕𑀺𑀯𑁂𑀭 (siṃgivera)der. Ancient Greek ζιγγίβερις (zingíberis)bor. Late Latin zingiberi Late Latin gingiberbor. Proto-West Germanic *gingiberō Old English gingifer ▲ Old French gingembreinflu. Middle English gingivere Middle English gingere English ginger Inherited from Middle English gingere, alteration of gingivere, from Old English gingifer, gingiber (influenced by Old French gingembre), from Medieval Latin gingiber, zingiber, from Latin zingiberi, from Late An…

gingere Middle English gingifer Old English gingiber la-med zingiberi Latin ζιγγίβερις Ancient Greek 𑀲𑀺𑀁𑀕𑀺𑀯𑁂𑀭 pra-sau 𑀇𑀜𑁆𑀘𑀺𑀯𑁂𑀭𑁆 oty

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Plants & Agriculture

External links

# ginger

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B1
**Part of speech:** noun, adj
**IPA (US):** /ˈd͡ʒɪnd͡ʒɚ/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈdʒɪndʒə/
**Frequency rank:** 4872

## Meanings
1. A spicy root used to flavor food and drinks.
2. Having a reddish-orange color, especially hair or fur.

## Examples
- She added fresh ginger to the soup for extra flavor.
- The boy had freckles and bright ginger hair.

## Derived Forms
- ginger-hackled
- ginger-haired
- ginger-pop
- gingerade
- gingerbread
- gingerette
- gingerism
- gingerita
- gingerlike
- gingermint
- gingernut
- gingerol

## Related Forms
- feague
- galangal
- parkin
- redhead
- shandy
- shandygaff
- turmeric

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: gingere
- Root: gingifer
- Root: gingiber
- Root: zingiberi
- Root: ζιγγίβερις
- Root: 𑀲𑀺𑀁𑀕𑀺𑀯𑁂𑀭
- Root: 𑀇𑀜𑁆𑀘𑀺𑀯𑁂𑀭𑁆

## Etymology
Etymology tree Old Tamil 𑀇𑀜𑁆𑀘𑀺 (iñci) Proto-Dravidian *wēr Old Tamil 𑀯𑁂𑀭𑁆 (vēr) Old Tamil 𑀇𑀜𑁆𑀘𑀺𑀯𑁂𑀭𑁆 (iñcivēr)bor. Sauraseni Prakrit 𑀲𑀺𑀁𑀕𑀺𑀯𑁂𑀭 (siṃgivera)der. Ancient Greek ζιγγίβερις (zingíberis)bor. Late Latin zingiberi Late Latin gingiberbor. Proto-West Germanic *gingiberō Old English gingifer ▲ Old French gingembreinflu. Middle English gingivere Middle English gingere English ginger Inherited from Middle English gingere, alteration of gingivere, from Old English gingifer, gingiber (influenced by Old French gingembre), from Medieval Latin gingiber, zingiber, from Latin zingiberi, from Late An…

## AI Etymology
Ginger is inherited from Middle English gingere, alteration of gingivere. In current use, the main senses are “A spicy root used to flavor food and drinks” and “Having a reddish-orange color, especially hair or fur”.

## Topics
- Plants & Agriculture

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