tacamahac
English
[edit]
Alternative forms
[edit]Etymology
[edit]From Spanish, from Nahuatl thecomahaca, to use the spelling of Hernandez 1614.[1][2]
In European languages there was contamination between tacamahac and various Algonquian words containing the final Proto-Algonquian *-a·xkw- (“hardwood or deciduous tree”), including the sources of tamarack and hackmatack,[3] as was already recognized by Chamberlain 1902.[4]
Noun
[edit]tacamahac (countable and uncountable, plural tacamahacs)
- A bitter balsamic resin or resinous exudation obtained from tropical American trees of the family Burseraceae (Bursera tomentosa and Icica tacamahaca), from East Indian trees of the genus Calophyllum, or from the balsam poplar (Populus balsamifera).
- Any tree yielding tacamahac resin, especially, in North America, the balsam poplar or balm of Gilead (Populus balsamifera).
Synonyms
[edit]- (the balsam poplar): hackmatack, tamarack
References
[edit]- ^ “tacamahac, n.”, in OED Online
, Oxford: Oxford University Press, September 2023.
- ^ [1]
- ^ “hackmatack, n.”, in OED Online , Oxford: Oxford University Press, September 2023.
- ^ Chamberlain, Alexander F. (1902 October–December) “Algonkian Words in American English: A Study in the Contact of the White Man and The Indian”, in The Journal of American Folk-Lore[2], volume XV, number LIX, American Folk-Lore Society, , page 260
- “tacamahac”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
Categories:
- English terms borrowed from Spanish
- English terms derived from Spanish
- English terms derived from Nahuatl
- English terms derived from Proto-Algonquian
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English uncountable nouns
- English countable nouns
- en:Gums and resins
- en:Malpighiales order plants
- en:Sapindales order plants
- en:Willows and poplars