Galangal
//ɡəˈlæŋɡəl// noun
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 Any of several east Asian plants of genera Alpinia and Kaempferia in the ginger family, used as a spice, but principally Alpinia galanga. countable, uncountable
"The refreshing aroma of galangal acts in combination with and as a contrast to lemongrass in many recipes in this book."
- 2 European sedge having rough-edged leaves and spikelets of reddish flowers and aromatic roots wordnet
- 3 southeastern Asian perennial with aromatic roots wordnet
Example
More examples"The refreshing aroma of galangal acts in combination with and as a contrast to lemongrass in many recipes in this book."
Etymology
From Middle English galyngale, from Old French galingal, from Arabic خَلَنْجَان (ḵalanjān), from Persian قولنجان (qulenjân, qulanjân), from Sanskrit कुलञ्जन (kulañjana), perhaps from Chinese 高良薑／高良姜 (gāoliángjiāng), from 高涼 /高凉 (Gāoliáng) (a prefecture or county in China) + 薑 /姜 (jiāng, “ginger”).
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.