gambier

G2A1M3B3I1E1R1

noun

A flowering plant, of species Uncaria gambir, family Rubiaceae, native to Southeast Asia.

Less commonScrabble 12

Meanings

noungambier (usually uncountable, plural gambiers)

plural gambiers

  1. 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
  2. uncountableusuallyAn astringent substance prepared from the leaves of the plant, used in tanning and dyeing.

Origin

  1. Malaygambir
  2. Malaygambir
  3. Englishgambier

Borrowed from Malay gambir.

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
APA

gambier. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gambier

MLA

“gambier.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gambier. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “gambier,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gambier.

Source: gambier on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.