tsamman.
/ˈtsamə/ A wild water-melon, Citrullus lanatus, native to parts of southern Africa. Also attributive.
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the world > food and drink > food > fruit and vegetables > fruit or a fruit > gourd > [noun] > melon > water melon
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tsamma1886
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > particular fruit-tree or -plant > [noun] > tree or plant producing edible gourds > water-melon plant > types of
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tsamma1886
1886 G. A. Farini Through Kalahari Desert vii. 106 We came across the first sama I had seen... It is the ‘wild water-melon’, resembling the cultivated variety in appearance, both internally and externally.
1933 Times Lit. Suppl. 16 Mar. 175/2 Ground melons (tsamas) provide the only water supply for the wandering tribes of bushmen.
1937 A. J. H. Goodwin in I. Schapera Bantu-Speaking Tribes S. Afr. ii. 39 The tsama melon..supplies liquid to men and beasts.
1948 L. G. Green To River's End i. 16 The dunes topped by their t'samma melons..only form a background.
1958 L. van der Post Lost World of Kalahari ix. 212 A middle-aged woman sat diligently pounding the seeds of the tsamma.
1974 Standard Encycl. Southern Afr. X. 640/2 The name ‘tsamma’ is used mainly in the Kalahari, and is derived from a Bushman name for the plant.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1986; most recently modified version published online September 2018).
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n.1886