camphor

UK/ˈkæmfə//ˈkæmfɚ/

camphor noun: 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, also known as laurel camphor or common/ordinary camphor.

Noun

camphor (countable and uncountable, plural camphors)

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, also known as laurel camphor or common/ordinary camphor.
- 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...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
- A form of camphor known as monobromated camphor is said to have an anaphrodisiac effect.1961, Harry E. Wedeck, Dictionary of Aphrodisiacs, New York: The Citadel Press, page 54
a plant-extracted crystalline substance similar to common camphor, especially Borneo camphor.

camphor meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

camphor in Hindi

white transparent waxy crystalline isoprenoid ketone: कपूर kapūr

camphor in Tamil

white transparent waxy crystalline isoprenoid ketone: கற்பூரம் kaṟpūram

camphor in Marathi

white transparent waxy crystalline isoprenoid ketone: कापूर kāpūr

camphor in Urdu

کافور, کپور

More languagesFewer languages

camphor in Bengali: কর্পূর korpur
camphor in Telugu: కర్పూరము karpūramu
camphor in Malayalam: പച്ചക്കർപ്പൂരം paccakkaṟppūraṁ, കർപ്പൂരം kaṟppūraṁ
camphor in Kannada: ಕರ್ಪೂರ karpūra
camphor in Punjabi: ਕਪੂਰ kapūr
camphor in Gujarati: કપૂર kapūr
camphor in Odia: କର୍ପୂର karpura
camphor in Sanskrit: कर्पूर karpūra, कर्पूरम् karpūram
camphor in Sinhala: කපුරු kapuru
camphor in Assamese: কৰ্পূৰ korpur
camphor in Nepali: कपुर kapura
camphor in Tagalog: alkampor
camphor in Arabic: كَافُور kāfūr
camphor in Malay: kapur barus
camphor in Indonesian: kapur barus, kamper
camphor in Persian: کافور kâfur
camphor in Thai: การบูร gaa-rá-buun
camphor in Vietnamese: long não, chương não
camphor in Myanmar: ပရုတ် pa.rut
Dhivehi: ކާފޫރު kāfūru

Examples of camphor in a sentence

However, compared to Masson pine needles, the waxy of camphor leaves showed thinner and more dasyphyllous.
These are silks, porcelain ware, camphor, rhubab, wax, sandalwood, cardamom, cloves and spikenard.
Camphor, however, has been used to counteract the conditions arising from nymphomania.

All 13 example sentences with camphor

Forms of camphor

plural	camphors

Origin of camphor

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

Phrases with camphor

Questions about camphor

What does camphor mean?: Camphor means 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, also known as laurel camphor or common/ordinary camphor.
What is camphor in Hindi?: Camphor in Hindi is कपूर (kapūr). See Camphor meaning in Hindi.
What part of speech is camphor?: Camphor is a noun.
How do you pronounce camphor?: Camphor is pronounced /ˈkæmfɚ/ (US).
What is the plural of camphor?: The plural of camphor is camphors.

Words near camphor in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: camphor (page history and authors); camphor (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); কৰ্পূৰ (Assamese) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vininn126-camphor.wav.

Cite this entry: “camphor.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/camphor. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.