bamboo

English

Bamboo.

Alternative forms

• bambou, bambu (obsolete)

Etymology

Etymology tree

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”).

Pronunciation

• enPR: băm-bo͞oʹ, IPA^(key): /bæmˈbu/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• (Philippines) IPA^(key): /ˈbambu/

Noun

bamboo (countable and uncountable, plural bamboos)

1. A fast-growing grass of the Bambusoideae subfamily, characterised by its woody, hollow, round, straight, jointed stem.
   • 2011, Ralph D. Sawyer, Ancient Chinese Warfare‎^[1], Basic Books, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, →OL, page 490:

     However, the late Hsia and the Shang were considerably warmer, possibly comparable to Hang-chou today, an area where bamboo proliferates.

2. (uncountable) The wood of the bamboo plant as a material for building, furniture, etc.
3. (countable) A stick, rod, pole, or cane of bamboo, especially one used for corporal punishment.
4. (slang) A didgeridoo.
5. (slang) 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.

Derived terms

• arrow bamboo
• bamboo antshrike
• bamboo baksheesh
• bamboo ceiling
• bamboo clam (Ensis leei)
• bamboo coral
• Bamboo Curtain, bamboo curtain
• bamboo diplomacy
• bambooey
• bamboo fern
• bamboo grass
• bamboo hair
• bambooish
• bamboo lemur
• bamboolike
• bamboo man
• bamboo palm
• bamboo partridge
• bamboo rat (Rhizomyini spp.)
• bamboo shark
• bamboo shoot
• bamboo torture
• bamboo vine
• bambooware
• bamboo wife
• Bengal bamboo (Bambusa tulda)
• black bamboo
• broadleaf bamboo
• Buddha belly bamboo (Bambusa ventricosa)
• cherry-merry-bamboo
• common bamboo (Bambusa vulgaris)
• giant thorny bamboo (Bambusa bambos)
• giant timber bamboo (Bambusa oldhamii)
• golden bamboo
• greater bamboo lemur
• heavenly bamboo
• henon bamboo
• Indian thorny bamboo (Bambusa bambos)
• lucky bamboo
• moso bamboo
• sacred bamboo
• shamboo
• spineless Indian bamboo (Bambusa tulda)
• spiny bamboo (Bambusa blumeana)
• thorny bamboo Bambusa blumeana)
• tortoise-shell bamboo

 

Descendants

• → Albanian: bambu
• → Finnish: bambu
• → Greek: μπαμπού (bampoú)
• → Guugu Yimidhirr: bambu
• → Russian: бамбу́к (bambúk) (or Dutch bamboe or French bambou) (see there for further descendants)
• → Welsh: bambŵ

Translations

plant

• Acehnese: tring
• Acholi: koo
• Adyghe: щэмбар (śɛmbar)
• Albanian: bambu (sq) f
• Arabic: خَيْزَرَان m (ḵayzarān), خَيْزُرَان m (ḵayzurān)

  Egyptian Arabic: خيزران m (xayzaran), بامبو m (bambu)

  Juba Arabic: gana

• Armenian: բամբուկ (hy) (bambuk)
• Assamese: বাঁহ (bãh)
• Asturian: bambú m
• Atayal: llkus
• Azerbaijani: bambuk (az), hind qamışı
• Banjarese: buluh, paring (bjn)
• Bashkir: һинд ҡамышы (hind qamışı)
• Belarusian: бамбу́к m (bambúk)
• Bengali: বাঁশ (bn) (bãś)
• Bikol Central: butong (bcl), kawayan (bcl)
• Breton: bambouz (br) f
• Bulgarian: бамбу́к (bg) m (bambúk)
• Burmese: ဝါး (my) (wa:)
• Catalan: bambú (ca) m
• Cebuano: kawayan
• Chepang: रीङ्
• Chinese:

  Eastern Min: 竹 (dé̤ṳk)

  Hokkien: 竹仔 (zh-min-nan) (tek-á)

  Mandarin: 竹子 (zh) (zhúzi)

• Czech: bambus (cs) m
• Danish: bambus c
• Dutch: bamboe (nl) n
• Esperanto: bambuo
• Estonian: bambus (et)
• Faroese: bambus n
• Fijian: bitu, kofe
• Finnish: bambu (fi)
• French: bambou (fr) m
• Galician: bambú (gl) m
• Georgian: ბამბუკი (bambuḳi)
• German: Bambus (de) m
• Greek: μπαμπού (el) n (bampoú)
• Hawaiian: ʻohe
• Hebrew: בַּמְבּוּק (he) m (bambuk), חִזְרָן m (khizran)
• Hiligaynon: kawayan
• Hindi: बांस m (bāns), बाँस (hi) m (bā̃s)
• Hungarian: bambusz (hu)
• Icelandic: bambus m
• Indonesian: buluh (id), bambu (id), aur (id)
• Irish: bambú m
• Isan: please add this translation if you can
• Italian: bambù (it) m
• Japanese: 竹 (ja) (たけ, take)
• Javanese: pring (jv), deling (jv)
• Kabardian: шамбыр (kbd) (šambər)
• Kannada: ಬಿದಿರು (kn) (bidiru)
• Kapampangan: kauayan, kuwayan
• Kazakh: бамбук (bambuk)
• Khmer: ឫស្សី (km) (rɨhsəy)
• Kikuyu: mũrangi class 3
• Korean: 대나무 (ko) (daenamu)
• Kyrgyz: бамбук (ky) m (bambuk)
• Lao: ໄຜ່ (phai)
• Latin: harundō Indica f
• Latvian: bambuss m
• Lithuanian: bambukas m
• Lombard: bambó (lmo) m
• Lü: ᦺᦙᧉᦌᦱᧂ (may²saang)
• Macedonian: бамбус m (bambus)
• Malay: buluh (ms) بولوه, bambu (ms) بمبو, aur (ms) اءور, pering ڤريڠ
• Malayalam: മുള (ml) (muḷa)
• Manchu: ᠴᡠᠰᡝ (cuse)
• Maori: inanga, kohe (archaic)
• Mon: ဒုန် (dun)
• Mongolian: хулс (mn) (xuls)
• Navajo: lókʼaatsoh
• Norman: bambou m
• Northern Thai: please add this translation if you can
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: bambus m

  Nynorsk: bambus m

• Nupe: gusa
• Occitan: bambó (oc) m
• Old Javanese: priṅ
• Ottoman Turkish: قامش (kamış)
• Paiwan: qau
• Pashto: باڼس (ps)
• Persian: خیزران (fa) (xayzarân)
• Polish: bambus (pl)
• Portuguese: bambu (pt) m
• Punjabi: ਬਾਂਸ m (bāns)
• Rarotongan: ko'e
• Rohingya: bañc
• Romanian: bambus (ro) m, bambu m
• Russian: бамбу́к (ru) m (bambúk)
• S'gaw Karen: ဝၣ် (wà)
• Salar: qamuş
• Samoan: ʻofe
• Sanskrit: वंश (sa) (vaṃśa)
• Scottish Gaelic: bambù m, cuilc-Fhrangach f
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: ба̀мбус m, тр̀сковача f

  Roman: bàmbus (sh) m, tr̀skovača (sh) f

• Shan: please add this translation if you can
• Siberian Tatar: интий ҡамыш (intiy qamış)
• Slovak: bambus (sk) m
• Slovene: bambus (sl) m
• Spanish: bambú (es) m
• Sranan Tongo: bambusi
• Sundanese: awi (su)
• Swahili: mwanzi class 3/4
• Swedish: bambu (sv) c
• Sylheti: ꠛꠣ (ba), ꠛꠣꠡ (baś)
• Tagalog: kawayan
• Tajik: бамбук (bambuk)
• Tamil: மூங்கில் (ta) (mūṅkil), வேய் (ta) (vēy)
• Tarifit: aɣanim m
• Tatar: һинд камышы (hind qamışı)

  Crimean Tatar: ind qamışı

• Telugu: వెదురు (te) (veduru)
• Tetum: au
• Thai: ไผ่ (th) (pài)
• Tibetan: སྨྱུག་མ (smyug ma)
• Tok Pisin: mambu
• Tongan: kofe
• Turkish: bambu (tr), hint kamışı
• Turkmen: bambuk (tk), hindigamşy
• Ukrainian: бамбу́к (uk) m (bambúk)
• Urdu: بانس m (bāns)
• Uyghur: xitay qomushi
• Uzbek: bambuk (uz)
• Vietnamese: tre (vi)
• Volapük: bambud (vo), (obsolete) lerid
• Waray-Waray: kawayan
• Welsh: bambŵ m
• White Hmong: xyoob
• Yoruba: ọparun
• Zhuang: faexcuk, faexndoek

wood

• Albanian: bambu (sq) f
• Asturian: bambú m
• Breton: bambouz (br) f
• Bulgarian: бамбу́к (bg) m (bambúk)
• Catalan: bambú (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 竹子 (zh) (zhúzi), 竹材 (zhúcái)

• Czech: bambus (cs) m
• Dutch: bamboe (nl) n
• Finnish: bambu (fi)
• French: bambou (fr) m
• Galician: bambú (gl) m
• German: Bambus (de) m, Bambusrohr (de) n
• Hawaiian: ʻohe
• Hebrew: במבוק (he) m (bambuq), חִזְרָן m (khizran)
• Irish: bambú m
• Italian: bambù (it) m
• Japanese: 竹 (ja) (たけ, take), 竹材 (たけざい, takezai)
• Javanese: pring (jv), deling (jv)
• Macedonian: бамбус m (bambus)
• Malay:

  Jawi: بولوه, بمبو, اءور

  Rumi: buluh (ms), bambu (ms), aur (ms)

• Norman: bambou m
• Polish: bambus (pl) m
• Portuguese: bambu (pt) m
• Russian: бамбу́к (ru) m (bambúk), бамбу́ковая трость f (bambúkovaja trostʹ)
• Scottish Gaelic: bambù m, cuilc-Fhrangach f
• Slovene: bambus (sl) m
• Spanish: bambú (es) m
• Swedish: bambu (sv) c
• Tagalog: kawayan
• Thai: ไม้ไผ่ (th) (máai pài)
• Tok Pisin: mambu
• Welsh: bambŵ m

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Isthmus Zapotec: ^{(please verify)} bixiá

Adjective

bamboo (not comparable)

1. Made of the wood of the bamboo.

Translations

made of bamboo

• Belarusian: бамбу́кавы (bambúkavy)
• Bulgarian: бамбуков (bambukov)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: ^{(please verify)} 竹製的／竹制的 (zhú zhì de)

• Czech: bambusový (cs) m
• Dutch: bamboe- (nl)
• Esperanto: bambua
• French: de bambou
• Hungarian: bambusz (hu)
• Italian: di bambù
• Japanese: 竹製の (たけせいの, takesei no)
• Macedonian: бамбусов m (bambusov)
• Polish: bambus (pl) m, bambusowy (pl)
• Portuguese: de bambu
• Russian: бамбу́ковый (ru) (bambúkovyj)
• Slovene: bambusov
• Tagalog: kawayan
• Tok Pisin: mambu
• Ukrainian: бамбу́ковий (uk) (bambúkovyj)

Verb

bamboo (third-person singular simple present bamboos, present participle bambooing, simple past and past participle bambooed)

1. (transitive) To flog with a bamboo cane.
   • 1880, Herbert Giles, transl., Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio‎^[2], London: Thomas de la Rue & Co., Vol. II, p. 18, footnote:

     […] the beadle is punished by fine, and sometimes bambooed, if robberies are too frequent within his jurisdiction, or if he fails to secure the person of any malefactor particularly wanted by his superior officers.

2. (transitive) To paint (furniture, etc.) to give it the appearance of bamboo.
   • 1994, Penny Swift, The Complete Book of Paint Techniques, New Holland, page 67:

     The craze for bambooing furniture and accessories was one of many popular paint techniques in the 18th century and early Victorian era.

3. (India, slang) To penetrate sexually.
   • 2006, Vikram Chandra, Sacred Games‎^[3], Penguin, published 2008:

     If you're just a girl from Lucknow, with no fluid cash, you'll be just one more among thousands going from producer to producer by auto-rickshaw, and every photographer who agrees to take a picture for your portfolio will want to introduce you to his bed upstairs in the loft. And what you'll get out of all this in the end is a lot of bambooing and maybe a dance or two in his videos.

   • 2013, Nandini Bhattacharya, chapter 5, in Hindi Cinema: Repeating the Subject, London: Routledge:

     One scene of attachment and intimacy shows Vijay careening into their shared apartment dead drunk and insulting a praying Ajay for his devotion to the household god, Hanuman […] , saying that instead of being rescued Ajay will be "bamboo-ed," a popular slang for anal penetration.

Gooniyandi

Noun

bamboo

1. didgeridoo

Mandinka

Noun

bamboo

1. crocodile