bamboo
pronunciation
How to pronounce bamboo in British English:
UK [ˌbæmˈbuː]
How to pronounce bamboo in American English:
US [ˌbæmˈbuː]
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- Noun:
- the hard woody stems of bamboo plants; used in construction and crafts and fishing poles
- woody tropical grass having hollow woody stems; mature canes used for construction and furniture
Word Origin
- bamboo
- bamboo: [16] Bamboo appears to come from a Malay word mambu. This was brought back to Europe by the Portuguese explorers, and enjoyed a brief currency in English from the 17th to the 18th century. However, for reasons no one can explain, the initial m of this word became changed to b, and it acquired an s at the end, producing a form found in Latin texts of the time as bambusa. This appears to have passed into English via Dutch bamboes, so the earliest English version of the word was bambos. As so often happens in such cases, the final s was misinterpreted as a plural ending, so it dropped off to give the new ‘singular’ bamboo.
- bamboo (n.)
- 1590s, from Dutch bamboe, from Portuguese bambu, earlier mambu (16c.), probably from Malay samambu, though some suspect this is itself an imported word.
Example
- 1. We found his hut made of bamboo and straw .
- 2. So bamboo capitalism will have to change .
- 3. The chief smiled , and showed me five heads fixed upon long reeds of bamboo .
- 4. Humans drove pandas to bamboo ?
- 5. The mother cradling the baby , building nest of bamboo .