chunam

English

Etymology

From Tamil சுண்ணம் (cuṇṇam, “lime, ground mortar”), from Sanskrit चूर्ण (cūrṇa, “powder; lime”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /tʃʊˈnɑːm/

Noun

chunam (usually uncountable, plural chunams)

1. (India, Hong Kong) A type of plaster made from lime and sand, used for indoor finishing and slope protection.
   • 1808–1810, William Hickey, Memoirs of a Georgian Rake, Folio Society 1995, p. 226:

     The one Mr Cleveland and I inhabited was, as I have already observed, constructed of mud instead of chunam.

   • 1834, Rám Ráz, Essay on the Architecture of the Hindús, London: […] [F]or the Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland; by John William Parker, […], →OCLC, page 64:

     In all the operations of chunam work, jaggery water, i. e. a solution of molasses or coarse sugar, is invariably added by the builders, and its use appears to have prevailed from the remotest ages.

   • 1888, Rudyard Kipling, “On the City Wall”, in In Black and White (A. H. Wheeler & Co.’s Indian Railway Library; no. 3), 5th edition, Allahabad: Messrs. A. H. Wheeler & Co.; London: Sampson Low, Marston, Searle, & Rivington, Ld., […], published 1890, →OCLC:

     The floor of the room was of polished chunam, white as curds.

   • 1924 June 4, E[dward] M[organ] Forster, A Passage to India, London: Edward Arnold & Co., →OCLC:

     Look at the flies. Look at the chunam coming off the walls.

   • 2009, Buildings Department, Improvement of Visual Appearance and Landscape Treatment for Man-made Slopes and Retaining Walls:

     If the slope has to be covered by shotcrete or chunam, tree rings of sufficient size should be provided to allow adequate supply of air and water to reach the tree roots.

Verb

chunam (third-person singular simple present chunams, present participle chunaming or chunamming, simple past and past participle chunamed or chunammed)

1. (transitive) To plaster or waterproof with chunam.
   • The Sydney Morning Herald, Wednesday 8 March 1848

     A PUNT FOR SALE, thirty-four feet long, twelve feet broad, and three feet ten inches deep, chunamed, sheathed, and coppered, carries about fifteen tons.

Anagrams

• Manchu, chuman, maunch