Noun (countable and uncountable, plural gingers)
- The pungent aromatic rhizome of a tropical Asian herb, Zingiber officinale), used as a spice and as a stimulant and acarminative.
- The plant that produces this rhizome.
- Other species belonging to the same family, Zingiberaceae, especially those of the genus Zingiber
- A reddish-brown colour/color.
- (colloquial, countable) A person with reddish-brown hair; a redhead.
- (colloquial, uncountable) vitality, vigour, liveliness (of character)
Adjective (comparative more ginger, superlative most ginger)
- (of hair) Of a reddish-brown colour.
- Flavoured with ginger.
Verb (third-person singular simple present gingers, present participle gingering, simple past and past participle gingered)
- To add ginger to.
- To enliven, to spice (up).
- To apply ginger to the anus of a horse to encourage it to carry its tail high and move in a lively fashion.
Origin Middle English gingere, alteration of gingivere, from late Old English gingifer, gingiber (influenced by Old French gingibre), from Medieval Latin gingiber, zingeber, from Latin zingiberi, from Late Greek ζιγγίβερις (zingíberis), from Middle Indic (cf. Pali [script?] (siṅgivēra), Sanskrit शृङ्गवेर (śṛṅgavera)) (influenced by शृङ्गं (śṛṅgaṃ) ‘horn’), from Old Tamil [script?] (iṅci) [script?] (vēr), literally, ‘ginger root’ (mod. Tamil இஞ்சி (iṅci, “ginger”) வேர் (ver, “root”)).
Verb (third-person singular simple present gingers, present participle gingering, simple past and past participle gingered)
- To move gingerly.
Origin Cockney rhyming slang: ginger beer = queer
Origin A diminutive of Virginia, also a nickname for someone or something with ginger -coloured hair.
