| 释义 |
num-num S. Afr.|nʊmˈnʊm|
Also nam-nam, noem-noem.
[Afrikaans, perh. f. Hottentot or Nama name.]
A spiny, evergreen shrub or small tree of the genus Carissa, belonging to the family Apocynaceæ and bearing fragrant white flowers; also, the edible red or purple fruit of a plant of this kind. Cf. Natal plum (Natal n.2 2).
1822W. J. Burchell Trav. Interior S. Afr. I. x. 192 The Hottentots call this shrub 'Num'num (or Noomnoom, agreeably to English orthography), each syllable preceded by a guttural clap of the tongue. 1897S. J. Du Toit Rhodesia iv. 32 Various kinds of sweet-grass and small shrubs, varied with very good large bush and trees, as..‘noem noem’, ‘quarri’, [etc.]. 1926O. Schreiner From Man to Man iii. 113 The nam-nams and jasmine shrubs made a thick wall on either side. [Note] A shrub with a small edible berry (also ‘num-num’). 1951R. Campbell Light on Dark Horse ix. 127 It was the sort of scrub which reminds one of an enormous roll of vegetable barbed wire, composed chiefly of num-num and wait-a-bit thorn. 1972Palmer & Pitman Trees S. Afr. III. 1899 The species [of Carissa] are usually known as num-nums. Ibid. 1903 Although the Karoo num-num is most often a bush it can grow into a small tree 3·5 m high with a round, much-branched, immensely dense and twiggy evergreen crown. |