camphor
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
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English [edit]
Etymology [edit]
From Old French camphore or Medieval Latin camphora, from Arabic كافور (kāfūr), from Middle Persian 𐭪𐭠𐭬𐭥𐭫 (kāpūr), ultimately from Malay kapur, possibly via Sanskrit कर्पुर (karpura).
Pronunciation [edit]
- IPA: /ˈkæmfə/
Noun [edit]
camphor (uncountable)
- (organic chemistry) A white transparent waxy crystalline isoprenoid ketone, with a strong pungent odour, used in pharmacy.
- 1895, H. G. Wells, The Time Machine Chapter X
- Now, I still think that for this box of matches to have escaped the wear of time for immemorial years was a strange, and for me, a most fortunate thing. Yet oddly enough I found here a far more unlikely substance, and that was camphor. I found it in a sealed jar, that, by chance, I supposed had been really hermetically sealed. I fancied at first the stuff was paraffin wax, and smashed the jar accordingly. But the odor of camphor was unmistakable. It struck me as singularly odd, that among the universal decay, this volatile substance had chanced to survive, perhaps through many thousand years. Is reminded me of a sepia painting I had once seen done from the ink of a fossil Belemnite that must have perished and become fossilized millions of years ago. I was about to throw this camphor on one side, and then remembering that it was inflammable and burnt with a good bright flame, I put it into my pocket.
- 1895, H. G. Wells, The Time Machine Chapter X
Translations [edit]
white transparent waxy crystalline isoprenoid ketone
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