bombax

See also: Bombax

English

Bombax ceiba flower

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin [Term?].

Noun

bombax (plural bombaxes)

Any member of the genus Bombax of tropical trees in the mallow family.

Synonyms

(tree in Bombax): cotton tree

Latin

Pronunciation

(Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈbom.baks/, [ˈbɔmbäks̠]

(modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈbom.baks/, [ˈbɔmbäks]

Etymology 1

From Ancient Greek βομβάξ (bombáx).

Interjection

bombax

indeed! strange! Used to express real or affected surprise.

Etymology 2

Ultimately from Ancient Greek βόμβυξ (bómbux, “silkworm”). This etymology is incomplete. You can help Wiktionary by elaborating on the origins of this term.

Noun

bombax

silk cotton tree

Descendants

Old French: bombace
- English: bombast
  - → German: Bombast
    - → Norwegian Bokmål: bombast
→ Translingual: Bombax (learned)

References

“bombax”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
bombax in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
bombax in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.

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