Meanings
plural gambiers
- uncountableusuallyA flowering plant, of species Uncaria gambir, family Rubiaceae, native to Southeast Asia.
1 more example
When the entire coast-line becomes a sea of waving palms, with Chinese and Malay villages fringing the shores, which are at present mere barren wastes of mangroves, with plantations of pepper, of gambier, and of tapioca and rice, the Northern Territory, backed up by the unswerving energy of the Australian squatter, miner, and planter, will present a spectacle almost unknown in the scheme of British colonization.
1887, Harriet W. Daly, Digging, Squatting, and Pioneering Life in the Northern Territory of South Australia, page 270 - uncountableusuallyAn astringent substance prepared from the leaves of the plant, used in tanning and dyeing.
Origin
- Malaygambir
- Malaygambir
- Englishgambier
Borrowed from Malay gambir.
More words from Malay
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Chinese Mandarin 兒茶鉤藤 /儿茶钩藤, 方兒茶 /方儿茶
- 兒茶鉤藤 /儿茶钩藤Uncaria gambir
- 方兒茶 /方儿茶 (fāng-érchá)extract
- 阿仙藥 /阿仙药 (āxiānyào)extract
Japanese ガンビール, 阿仙薬
- ガンビールUncaria gambir
- 阿仙薬extract
Malay gambir, gambir
- gambirUncaria gambir
- gambirextract
Polish czepota, gambir
- czepotaUncaria gambir
- gambirUncaria gambir
- gambirextract
Romanian gambir
- gambirUncaria gambir
Cite this entry
gambier. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gambier
“gambier.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gambier. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “gambier,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gambier.
Source: gambier on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.