galangaln.

Etymology: < Anglo-Norman galingale, galyngal, galyngale, galengal, galligal, Anglo-Norman and Old French, Middle French galingal (2nd half of the 12th cent.; Old French, Middle French, French garingal (with dissimilation of liquids; 2nd half of the 12th cent.)), also Middle French galangal (15th cent.), ultimately < Arabic ḵalanjān , variant of ḵūlanjān , ḵaulanjān , ḵaulinjān , etc. (mid 9th cent.), all denoting the aromatic root of certain East Indian plants < Persian ḵāvalinjān (also ḵālūlinjān , ḵvālinjān , ḵūlanjān ; the Arabic word was perhaps reborrowed into Persian as ḵalanjān ), further etymology uncertain and disputed (see note). Compare post-classical Latin galingala (frequently from 13th cent. in British sources), Old Occitan galengal (14th cent.), garengal , Catalan †galangal , †galangau (both 1252), †galengar (1271), †garangall (1455), †garangal (15th cent.; now galanga : see galanga n.), Spanish †garengal , †galingal (both 1250), †garingal (1293), †galingar (a1350), †galangal (1418), †galengar (a1450), †garanjal (1529; now galanga : see galanga n.), and also Middle Dutch galigaen , galighaen , galegan (12th cent.; Dutch galigaan , galgant ), Middle Low German galgān , galgānt , galigān , galligān , galegān , gallegān , galigaent , gaellygaen , Old High German galangan , galigan , galgan , galegan (Middle High German galgan , galgant , galgent , galget , German Galgant ). Several of these continental forms are, like the English word, applied to some kind of sedge and its dried roots, as well as to the Asian rhizome. Compare galanga n.Attested slightly earlier as a surname: John Galyngale (1311). With the β. forms compare Old French ganigal (13th cent.). The γ. forms in -ay may reflect Middle French forms with vocalization of the final -l ; compare the following, which may show the English or the Anglo-Norman word:1446 in J. Raine Testamenta Eboracensia (1865) III. 103 De iiij lb. et di. galyngay, v s. iiij d.With the δ. forms without medial -n- compare Anglo-Norman galligal (c1300). Both the Ancient Chinese base of Chinese gāo-liáng-jiāng (and its Cantonese cognate), and Sanskrit kulañja, kulañjana, both in sense ‘galingale’, have been suggested as the ulterior etymon of the Persian, and hence Arabic and European, words. See further Französisches etymol. Wörterbuch XIX. at ḫalanǧān. However, the suggestion of an Indian origin is no longer accepted, as the only evidence of the Sanskrit word comes from a modern glossary, and the distribution of the equivalent words in Indian vernaculars (only in Urdu, Panjabi and Hindi; compare Urdu kulañjan) suggests a borrowing < Persian. The suggested derivation < Ancient Chinese seems the most likely, but still poses phonological problems. The exact original sense of the Chinese word is also uncertain and has traditionally been interpreted as either ‘mild ginger from Gao (Ko, a prefecture in the province of Canton)’ or ‘ginger from Gaoliang (a city in the province of Sichuan)’; this uncertainty may suggest that it is itself a loan, perhaps from an indigenous language. The post-classical Latin variant gallingar (second half of the 10th cent. in a source from Hainaut) was earlier borrowed into Old English as gallengar:OE Lacnunga (2001) I. xxx. 18 To wensealfe..nim garleaces godne dæl; cnuca, & wring þurh clað on gemered hunig; þonne hit swiðe gesoden sy, þonne do ðu pipor & sideware, gallengar & gingifre.