gamboge

Syllables: gam·boge/ɡæmˈbuːʒ/US/ɡæmˈbuʒ/

gamboge noun: any of several species of trees of the genus Garcinia found in South and Southeastern Asia, especially Garcinia xanthochymus.

Image: Florimagix, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

gamboge (countable and uncountable, plural gamboges)

Any of several species of trees of the genus Garcinia found in South and Southeastern Asia, especially Garcinia xanthochymus.
- Clusiaceæ, or Guttiferæ, a natural order of trees or shrubs belonging to the Dicotyledons (division Thalamifloræ), natives of the humid tropics of S. America. [...] Most of the plants have acrid properties, and yield a yellow resin. Among the chief and common plants of the order are Gambooge...1877, “Clusiaceæ, or Guttiferæ”, in John M[erry] Ross, editor, The Globe Encyclopædia of Universal Information, volume II, Boston, Mass.: Estes & Lauriat, […], →OCLC, page 178, column 2
Synonyms:

cambogia
The resin of the gamboge tree; a preparation of the resin used as a pigment or for medicinal purposes.
- Gamboge is one of the firſt yellows, which may be made to produce five or six ſorts of Green with verdegreaſe, according as the gambooge is in the greater or leſſer proportion; if it abounds, it will make a tolerable oak green, and being mixt with a greater quantity of verdegreaſe, it will make a...1735, [John Barrow], “GREENS”, in Dictionarium Polygraphicum: Or, The Whole Body of Arts Regularly Digested. […], volume I (A–H), London: […] C[harles] Hitch and C[harles] Davis […], and S[amuel]...
- Concerning the Tree which yields the Gamboge, By Profeſſor J[ames] A. Murray. [...] The tree which yields the true gamboge is, by the natives on the coaſt of Coromandel, called Gokathu, and Bokathu; by Dr. König, it is name Guttæfera vera, and Arbor polygama fructu ceraſiformi eduli. [...] This...1790, “[Appendix to the Second Volume of the Monthly Review Enlarged.] Art. X. Commentationes Societatis Regiæ Gottingensis. i.e. Memoirs of the Royal Society of Gottingen for the Years 1787 and...
A deep yellow colour.
- I have always heard, and red, that Nature is one of the chief beauties of poetry; and lo! behold an example!—for I merely turned into rhyme the pitiful ravings of two love-lorn maids, most tenderly sensible to the charms of a pair of black moustachios relieved with deep gamboges.1811 October, Charles Kirkpatrick Sharpe, W[illiam] K[irkpatrick] R[iland] Bedford, “C. Kirkpatrick Sharpe to Lord Gower”, in Alexander Allardyce, editor, Letters from and to Charles Kirkpatrick...
- My attention was fixed for the moment on two fair Hellenes; then on an elderly female with black head-dress fringed with gambooge, and a smart lassie in a hat, with nez retroussé and sprightly eyes.1875 November 26, Hazard Bey, “Oriental Diplomacy. Letter X. (From a Random Reporter near Istambol to the Editor of a Diurnal elsewhere.)”, in The Pall Mall Budget: Being a Weekly Collection of...

Adjective

gamboge (not comparable)

Of a deep yellow colour.
- The cab stopped, and out jumped a man in a coarse Petersham great coat, whitey-brown neckerchief, faded black suit, gambooge-coloured top-boots, and one of those large crowned hats, formerly seldom met with, but now very generally patronised by gentlemen and costermongers.1835 January, Boz [pseudonym; Charles Dickens], “Passage in the Life of Mr. Watkins Tottle. Chapter the Second.”, in The Monthly Magazine, or British Register of Literature, Sciences, and the...
- Beg your pardon, Sir, but this here officer o' yourn in the gambooge tops, 'ull never earn a decent livin' as a master o' the ceremonies any vere.1836 March – 1837 October, Charles Dickens, “Showing, among a Variety of Pleasant Matters, how Majestic and Impartial Mr. Nupkins was; and how Mr. Weller Returned Mr. Job Trotter’s Shuttlecock, as...

gamboge meaning in Tamil and Persian

gamboge in Tamil

tree of the genus Garcinia: பச்சிலை paccilai

gamboge in Persian

resin of the gamboge tree: ملماز malmâz
deep yellow colour: ملماز malmâz

Examples of gamboge in a sentence

Concerning the Tree which yields the Gamboge, By Profeſſor J[ames] A.1790, “[Appendix to the Second Volume of the Monthly Review Enlarged.] Art. X. Commentationes Societatis Regiæ Gottingensis. i.e. Memoirs...
Pipe gamboge consists of cylindrical pieces, varying from one to three inches in diameter.1866, Frederic John Farre, assisted by Robert Bentley and Robert Warington, “Cambogia, Gamboge”, in Horatio C. Wood, Jr., editor, Manual of...
Of gum resins, the emulsive series including gamboges of all varieties will follow the gums in natural order in consequence of the facility with which they mix and form an emulsion with water.1874, M. C. Cooke, “Indian Gums and Resins”, in Report by Dr. M. C. Cooke, on the Gums, Resins, Oleo-resins, and Resinous Products in the...
The many human figures that went to and fro were hardly to be distinguished from the ground they trod They were coated with earth, clay-clad in ochre and gamboge1917, Henry Handel Richardson [pseudonym; Ethel Florence Lindesay Richardson], “Proem”, in The Fortunes of Richard Mahony, London: William...

Synonyms of gamboge

cambogia

Forms of gamboge

plural	gamboges
alternative form	camboge
alternative form	gambooge

Origin of gamboge

From New Latin gambogium, cambogium (“resin from trees used to make yellow dye”), from New Latin Gambogia, Cambogia (“Cambodia”). The Latin word was first attested in English as a colour in 1634. Doublet of Cambodia and Kampuchea.

Words formed from gamboge

Words that rhyme with gamboge

Questions about gamboge

What does gamboge mean?: Gamboge means any of several species of trees of the genus Garcinia found in South and Southeastern Asia, especially Garcinia xanthochymus.
What is gamboge in Tamil?: Gamboge in Tamil is பச்சிலை (paccilai). See Gamboge meaning in Tamil.
How do you use gamboge in a sentence?: Concerning the Tree which yields the Gamboge, By Profeſſor J[ames] A.
What part of speech is gamboge?: Gamboge can be a noun or an adjective.
How do you pronounce gamboge?: Gamboge is pronounced /ɡæmˈbuːʒ/ (UK).
What is the plural of gamboge?: The plural of gamboge is gamboges.

Words near gamboge in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: gamboge (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: En-uk-gamboge.ogg.

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