| 释义 |
▪ I. camphor, n.|ˈkæmfə(r), -ɔː(r)|
Forms: (4 caumfre), 5–9 camphire, (6 campher, camfory, -ie, camfery, camphora, camfora, canfora), 6–7 camphyre, (champhire, 7 camphory, campheer, -phir, -fer, -fire, canfir, 8 champhor), 7– camphor.
[a. F. camfre, camphre = med.L., Pr., and Pg. camphora, It. canfora, Sp. and Pg. alcanfor, med.Gr. καϕουρά (‘Camphora, quam Aetius caphura nominavit’ Herm. Barbaro, 15th c. commentator on Dioscorides, Devic), a. Arab. kāfūr, in Old Pers. kāpūr, Prakrit kappūram, Skr. karpūram; in Hindī kappūr, kapūr, kāpūr, Malay kāpūr. The European forms are immediately from Arabic, with an for long ā. Various forms of the word occur in 16th c. Eng., but the typical form down to c 1800 was camphire; the mod. camphor is conformed to the Latin.]
1. A whitish translucent crystalline volatile substance, belonging chemically to the vegetable oils, and having a bitter aromatic taste and a strong characteristic smell: it is used in pharmacy, and was formerly in repute as an antaphrodisiac.
common camphor (C10H16O) is prepared by distillation and sublimation from Camphora officinarum (Laurus Camphora), a tree indigenous to Java, Sumatra, Japan, etc., and from other lauraceous trees. Many essential oils, as those of feverfew, lavender, etc., deposit varieties of camphor differing only in their action on polarized light. Borneo camphor or Borneol (C10H18O) is yielded by Dryobalanops Camphora, family Dipteraceæ, a tree growing in Sumatra and Borneo; it is less volatile than common camphor, and has a mingled camphoraceous and peppery smell. Ngai camphor, of the same chemical composition as Borneol, is produced in China and Burmah by the distillation of Blumea balsamifera.
1313in Wardrobe Acc. 7 Edw. II, 20 Caumfre 18d. 1530Palsgr. 202/2 Camforie or gumme, camfre. 1553Eden Treat. New Ind. (Arb.) 22 Great plentie of Camphora called camphyre, whiche they affirme to be the gumme of a certayn tree. 1585Lloyd Treas. Health I. ii, Gume of Arabicke, Dragance, Camfery. 1598Gilpin Skial. (1878) 35 Tearmes of quick Camphire, & Salt-peeter phrases. 1599Hakluyt Voy. II. i. 242 Canfora being compound commeth all from China, and all that which groweth in canes commeth from Borneo. 1605Timme Quersit. iii. 177 Camphor. 1626Bacon Sylva §30 Brimstone, Pitch, Champhire, Wildfire..make no such fiery wind, as Gunpowder doth. 1629Capt. Smith Trav. & Adv. v. 8 Campheer, and powder of Brimstone. 1649Jer. Taylor Gt. Exemp. iii. xiv. 15 Intemperance..makes a fair estate evaporate like Camphire, turning it into nothing. 1657W. Coles Adam in Eden cclxxxiv, In English camphire, camfire, camphor, and camfer. 1661Boyle Spring of Air ii. i. (1682) 21 Camphire of which a little will fill a room with its odour. 1680Morden Geog. Rect. (1685) 323 The Canfir of Borneo. 1681Dryden Sp. Fryar i. Wks. 1725 V. 149 Prescribe her an Ounce of Camphire every Morning..to abate Incontinency. 1764Churchill Candidate Poems (1769) II. 35 Her loins by the chaste matron Camphire bound. 1781–7Bp. Watson Chem. Ess. (1789) V. 273 Camphor. 1814Sir H. Davy Agric. Chem. 146 Camphor is used to preserve the collections of Naturalists. 1875Darwin Insectiv. Pl. ix. 209 Camphor is the only known stimulant for plants.
†2. A tree or plant which yields camphor: esp. Camphora officinarum and Dryobalanops Camphora; see prec. sense. Obs.
The shrub called ‘camphire’ in the 1611 version of the Bible is now identified with the Lawsonia inermis or henna-plant, family Lythraceæ.
1570Levins Manip. 72 Campher, herb, camphora. 1596Spenser F.Q. iii. ii. 49 Rew, and Savine, and the flowre Of Camphora. 1611Bible Song of Sol. i. 14 My beloued is vnto me, as a cluster of Camphire [1885 R.V. henna-flowers]. 1633H. Cogan Pinto's Trav. xxxix. (1663) 156 A Tent pitched upon 12 Ballisters of the wood of Camphire. 1684Bunyan Pilgr. ii. 194 Here also grew Camphire, with Spicknard, and Saffron.
3. attrib. and in Comb., as camphor ball, camphor julep, camphor oil, camphor pill, camphor posset, camphor tree (see 2). camphor-chest, -trunk U.S., a clothes-chest containing camphor as a protection against moths; camphor ice U.S., a solid preparation of camphor; camphor laurel Austral. (see quots.); camphor-wood, the popular name for several trees (including prec.) of the families Dipterocarpaceæ and Lauraceæ, or the wood from these trees, which is fragrant.
1592Greene Upst. Courtier (1871) 38 Being curiously washed with no worse than a *Camphor ball.
1861Mrs. Stowe Pearl of Orr's Isl. i. viii. 59 That ar shawl your mother keeps in her *camfire chist. 1889R. T. Cooke Steadfast v. 59 Mrs. Dennis was packing away blankets in the camphor chest upstairs.
1611Beaum. & Fl. Philast. ii. 26 Such *Camphire constitutions as this.
1880A. A. Hayes New Colorado xv. 197 In the alkali regions, glycerine, or what is called ‘*camphor ice’, should be used on face and hands.
1788F. Burney Diary 5 Nov. (1891) III. 61, I gave her some *camphor julep. 1835Dickens Let. (1965) I. 73, I hope you are well and have taken some Camphor Julep.
1894Proc. R. Soc. Queensland XI. 23 The identity of the camphor of Cinnamomum oliveri with that of *Camphor Laurel was proved by me. 1897R. T. Baker in Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W. XXII. 282 Cinnamomum virens, sp. nov. ‘Wild Camphor Laurel’. 1932R. H. Anderson Trees N.S.W. 50 Camphor Laurel (Cinnamomum camphora). A handsome, dense-topped tree. Ibid. 127 Cinnamomum virens is sometimes known as the Native Camphor Laurel.
1836Penny Cycl. VI. 204 In that part of the stem [of Dryobalanops Camphora] which should be occupied by the pith it [Borneo camphor] is found along with *camphor-oil.
1671A. Behn Amorous Pr. iv. iv, To do penance In *Champhire Posset, this month.
1607Topsell Four-f. Beasts 448 The leopard..delighteth in the *camphory tree. 1876Harley Mat. Med. 451 The Camphor Tree is a large and handsome tree with evergreen shining leaves.
1869Mrs. Stowe Oldtown Folks 34 Mrs. Major had a real Ingy shawl up in her ‘*camphire’ trunk. 1895Century Mag. July 323/2 Cedar-chest and camphor-trunk and flowered bandbox have been called upon to disgorge their treasures.
1923Dallimore & Jackson Handbk. Coniferæ ii. 173 Callitris verrucosa, R. Brown. Turpentine Pine..*Camphor Wood; Rock Pine. 1950C. W. Bond Colonial Timbers 55 In spite of its hardness Borneo camphorwood is pleasant to work. Ibid. 63 East African camphorwood is interesting. 1955World Timbers (Timber Development Assoc.) II. 9 Borneo Camphorwood [Dryobalanops aromatica] should not be confused with East African Camphorwood (Ocotea usambarensis)..nor with true camphorwood (Cinnamomum camphora). 1965Austral. Encycl. II. 247/2 Camphorwood is the name standardized in the timber trade for the indigenous C[innamomum] oliveri.
▪ II. ˈcamphor, v. rare.
[f. prec. n.]
trans. To impregnate or wash with camphor; to camphorate. Hence ˈcamphored ppl. a.
1562Whitehorne tr. Macchiavelli's Arte warre (1573) 26 b, Some moiste it..with camphored aqua vitae. 1607Tourneur Rev. Trag. iii. v, Does every proud and self-affecting Dame Camphire her face for this? 1696Tryon Misc. 2 Camfired Spirit. 1709Steele Tatler No. 101 ⁋5 Wash-Balls Perfumed, Camphired, and Plain, shall restore Complexions. |