gamboge Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a gum resin used as a yellow pigment and a purgative
  2. noun a strong yellow color
    lemon yellow; maize; lemon.

WordNet

Gam*boge" noun
Definitions
  1. A concrete juice, or gum resin, produced by several species of trees in Siam, Ceylon, and Malabar. It is brought in masses, or cylindrical rolls, from Cambodia, or Cambogia, -- whence its name. The best kind is of a dense, compact texture, and of a beatiful reddish yellow. Taking internally, it is a strong and harsh cathartic ad emetic. Written also camboge. ✍ There are several kinds of gamboge, but all are derived from species of Garcinia, a genus of trees of the order Guttiferæ. The best Siam gamboge is thought to come from Garcinia Hanburii. Ceylon gamboge is from G. Morella. G. pictoria, of Western India, yields gamboge, and also a kind of oil called gamboge butter.

Webster 1913