kauri gum
- noun
- /ˈkaʊəri ɡʌm/
- New Zealand
:
goma de kauri
- The manufacture of high-quality varnish often relied on kauri gum as a primary ingredient.
Examples
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Early settlers in New Zealand collected kauri gum from the forests for export to Europe.
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I found a piece of kauri gum on the beach.
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We visited a museum that displayed ancient pieces of kauri gum found buried in the ground.
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The kauri gum is prized for its clarity.
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Early settlers in New Zealand collected kauri gum from the forests for export to Europe.
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The manufacture of high-quality varnish often relied on kauri gum as a primary ingredient.
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We visited a museum that displayed ancient pieces of kauri gum found buried in the ground.
Synonyms
A hard, sticky material from old New Zealand kauri trees that people use to make varnish
A hard pale material from a large New Zealand tree used to make varnish
A fossil resin from New Zealand trees used to make varnish and linoleum
A yellow sticky substance from some Australian trees used to make varnishes and paper
A natural resin from Australian trees used to make varnish and paper
A sticky natural substance from some Australian trees that makers use for varnish and paper
A sticky natural substance from Australian trees that dissolves in alcohol and helps make varnish and stronger paper
A resin from some Australian trees that dissolves in alcohol and helps make varnish and paper
A sticky material that insects make in Madagascar and people use for varnish and dye
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a fossilized resin from kauri trees' is directly and transparently derived from 'kauri' (the name of the tree/species) + 'gum' (a resinous/adhesive substance): it is a simple noun–noun compound meaning the gum of the kauri. Although the referent is botanically specific and perhaps culturally marked, the compositional pattern is common cross-linguistically, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents would infer the meaning.
Etymology
Kauri gum comes from sticky 'resin' that came out of kauri trees and then hardened into lumps called gum. People dug up or collected these lumps and used them to make varnish and linoleum, so today kauri gum means the old, hardened tree resin used in those products.
