gobo

gobo · noun¹

Uncertain; possibly from go-b(etween) (“intermediary, middleman”) + -o (suffix forming informal terms).

gobo · noun²

1. Middle Chinese · derived from牛蒡“burdock”
2. Japanese · borrowed fromごぼう
3. English todaygobo

Borrowed from Japanese ごぼう, ゴボウ, 牛蒡 (gobō, “burdock (Arctium lappa); burdock root”), from Middle Chinese 牛蒡 (ŋɨu pɑŋ^X, “burdock”) (modern Mandarin 牛蒡 (niúbàng)), from 牛 (ŋɨu, “ox”) + 蒡 (pɑŋ^X, a word only appearing in the compound 牛蒡), possibly because oxen have been observed eating the leaves of the plant when recovering from illness.

First known use, by meaning

• from early 20th c. A screen (often in disc form) placed between a light and an illuminated actor or object in order to diffuse the glare.
• from early 20th c. A device used to shield a microphone from extraneous sounds.
• from early 20th c. A template inserted over a light source to control the shape of the thrown light.
• from early 19th c. The taproot of young edible burdock plants (Arctium lappa), eaten as a root vegetable.