Wiktionary

camphor

English

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Etymology

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From Old French camphore or Medieval Latin camphora, from Arabic كَافُور (kāfūr), in turn from an Austronesian word such as Malay kapur.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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camphor (countable and uncountable, plural camphors)

  1. (organic chemistry) A white transparent waxy crystalline isoprenoid ketone, 1,7,7-trimethylbicyclo[2.2.1]heptan-2-one, with a strong pungent odour, used in pharmacy.
    • 1895 May 29, H[erbert] G[eorge] Wells, “The Palace of Green Porcelain”, in The Time Machine: An Invention, London: William Heinemann, →OCLC, page 115:
      Yet, oddly enough, I found a far unlikelier substance, and that was camphor. I found it in a sealed jar, that by chance, I suppose, had been really hermetically sealed. I fancied at first that it was paraffin wax, and smashed the glass accordingly. But the odour of camphor was unmistakable. In the universal decay this volatile substance had chanced to survive, perhaps through many thousands of centuries.

Derived terms

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Translations

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See also

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