1910–1911
Britannica 11th
Encyclopaedia Britannica · 11th edition
TURMERIC (from Fr. terre merite, turmeric, Lat. terra merita, deserved, i.e. excellent earth; Skeat suggests that it is a barbarous corruption, perhaps of Arabic karkam, kurkum, saffron or curcuma), the tuberous root of Curcuma longa, L., an herbaceous perennial plant belonging to the natural order Zingiberaceae. It is a native of southern Asia, being cultivated on a large scale both on the mainland and in the islands of the Indian Ocean. Turmeric has been used from a remote period both as a condiment and as a dyes…
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- Vol. 27, pp. 474-474