Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definitions: Nutmeg |
NutmegNoun1. East Indian tree widely cultivated in the tropics for its aromatic seed; source of two spices: nutmeg and mace. 2. Hard aromatic seed of the nutmeg tree used as spice when grated or ground. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "nutmeg" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1380. (references) |
Synonym: NutmegSynonym: nutmeg tree (n). (additional references) |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
Nutmeg and mace are two spices derived from the same plant, the nutmeg tree (Myristica fragrans) The nutmeg tree is indigenous to the Banda Islands of Indonesia but is also grown in the Caribbean (Grenada). Several commercial products are produced from the nutmeg tree, nutmeg and mace being the best known. Nutmeg is the actual seed of the tree, roughly egg-shaped and about an inch long, while mace is the dried "lacy", reddish covering of the seed.
Other products are their essential oils, extracted oleoresins and nutmeg butter. Other nutmeg tree species include the M. argentea which produces 'Papuan' nutmegs from Papua (Indonesia) and Papua New Guinea, and M. malabarica which produces 'Bombay' nutmegs from India; both are used as adulterants of M. fragrans products.
The spices in their ground form are mainly used in the food processing industry, principally in the seasoning of meat products; they are also used in soups, sauces, baked goods and spice mixes such as curry powder in Japan. Both spices have similar taste qualities; mace is more popular because of its light orange colour in light coloured foods. Nutmeg, in general, tends to be sweeter and more delicate. These products are also used in the perfumery and pharmaceutical industries. A possible, future use for nutmeg is as a natural control for insects that infest stored cereal grains.
The first harvest of nutmeg trees finds place 7-9 years after planting and the trees reach their full potential after 20 years.
At one time, nutmeg was one of the most valuable spices. It has been said that in England, several hundred years ago, a few nutmeg nuts could be sold for enough money to enable financial independence for life.
World production of nutmegs is estimated to average between 10,000 and 12,000 tons per year with annual world demand estimated at 9,000 tons; production of mace is estimated at 1,500 to 2,000 tons. Indonesia and Grenada dominate production and exports of both products with a world market share of 75% and 20% respectively. Other producers include India, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea and Sri Lanka, and other Caribbean islands such as St. Vincent. The principal import markets are the European Community, the United States, Japan and India. Singapore and the Netherlands are major re-exporters.
Besides whole nutmeg and mace, the nutmeg tree is also a source for essential oil and nutmeg butter.
The essential oil is obtained by the steam distillation of ground nutmeg. The oil is colorless or light yellow and smells and tastes of nutmeg. Essential oil contains numerous components of interest to the oleochemical industry. Essential nutmeg oil as such is used as natural food flavouring in baked goods, syrups (Coca Cola), beverages, sweets etc. It replaces ground nutmeg as it leaves no particles in the food. The essential oil is also used in the cosmetic and pharmaceutical industries for instance in tooth paste and as major ingredient in Vicks cough syrup. In traditional medicine nutmeg and nutmeg oil were used for illnesses related to the nervous and digestive systems.
Myristicin in essential oil is probably the responsible agent for the hallucinogenic properties of nutmeg oil.World production
Essential oil and nutmeg butter
Essential oil
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Nutmeg."
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Condiment | Nutmeg, mace, cinnamon, oregano, cloves, fennel. |
Pulverulence | Mill, arrastra, gristmill, grater, rasp, file, mortar and pestle, nutmeg grater, teeth, grinder, grindstone, kern, quern, koniology. |
Roughness | Adjective: rough, uneven, scabrous, scaly,knotted; rugged, rugose, rugous; knurly; asperous, crisp, salebrous, gnarled, unpolished, unsmooth, roughhewn; craggy, cragged; crankling, scraggy; prickly; (sharp); arborescent; leafy, well-wooded; feathery; plumose, plumigerous; laciniate, laciniform, laciniose; pappose; pileous, pilose; trichogenous, trichoid; tufted, fimbriated, hairy, ciliated, filamentous, hirsute; crinose, crinite; bushy, hispid, villous, pappous, bearded, pilous, shaggy, shagged; fringed, befringed; setous, setose, setaceous; "like quills upon the fretful porcupine"; rough as a nutmeg grater, rough as a bear. |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Nutmeg |
| English words defined with "nutmeg": allspice, Arillus ♦ Brazilian nutmeg ♦ California nutmeg, capuccino, cinnamon toast, Clove nutmeg, coffee capuccino ♦ Jamaica nutmeg ♦ Mace, Myristic, Myristica fragrans, Myristin ♦ negus, Nutmeg bird, Nutmeg butter, nutmeg family, Nutmeg flower, nutmeg hickory, Nutmeg liver, Nutmeg melon, Nutmeg pigeon, Nutmeg State, nutmeg tree, Nutmeg wood, Nutmegged, nutmeg-yew ♦ Otoba fat ♦ Peruvian nutmeg, Pichurim bean ♦ Ruminated ♦ Scalloped oysters, stinking cedar ♦ Torreya californica. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "nutmeg": Bishop, Cardinal, Pope ♦ CASUARINA EQUISETIFOLIA ♦ egg nog ♦ Sangaree' ♦ TODDY. (references) |
| Etymologies containing "nutmeg": Muscardin. (references) |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | Plenty'a liquor and nutmeg! (Sealab 2021; writing credit: John J. Miller; Adam Reed) There is something wrong with my friend, I think he smoked some nutmeg or something. (Idle Hands; writing credit: Terri Hughes; Ron Milbauer) | |
Movie/TV Titles | An Introduction to NUTMEG (1963) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title |
References | |
Books | |
Music |
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Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit |  | A nutmeg match.Credit: Library of Congress. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Economic History | Grenada | In 1782, Sir Joseph Banks, the botanical adviser to King George III, introduced nutmeg to Grenada. (references) |
Grenada | Trade (1999): Merchandise exports--US$54.5 million: nutmeg, mace, cocoa, bananas, other fruits, vegetables, fish. (references) | |
Grenada | The collapse of the sugar estates and the introduction of nutmeg and cocoa encouraged the development of smaller land holdings, and the island developed a land-owning yeoman farmer class. (references) | |
Worker Rights | Grenada | There were several strikes or other types of industrial action during the year, including those by workers at the Nutmeg Association, the Grenada Sugar Factory, and the airport. (references) |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| "Nutmeg" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 95.10% of the time. "Nutmeg" is used about 102 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (singular) | 95.1% | 97 | 33,269 |
| Lexical Verb (base form) | 3.92% | 4 | 175,879 |
| Noun (proper) | 0.98% | 1 | 339,140 |
| Total | 100.00% | 102 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
| Country | Name |
| USA | Nutmeg Federal Savings and Loan Association |
| (more examples...) |
Source: compiled by the editor from Icon Group International, Inc.
Expressions using "nutmeg": american nutmeg ♦ Brazilian nutmeg ♦ Calabash nutmeg ♦ California nutmeg ♦ Clove nutmeg ♦ Jamaica nutmeg ♦ nutmeg bird ♦ nutmeg butter ♦ nutmeg family ♦ nutmeg flower ♦ nutmeg grater ♦ nutmeg hickory ♦ nutmeg liver ♦ nutmeg melon ♦ nutmeg pigeon ♦ nutmeg state ♦ nutmeg tree ♦ nutmeg wood ♦ peruvian nutmeg ♦ plume nutmeg ♦ rough as a nutmeg grater. Additional references. | |
| Hyphenated Usage | |
Beginning with "nutmeg": nutmeg-flavoured, nutmeg-scented, nutmeg-yew. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Expression | Frequency per Day | Expression | Frequency per Day |
nutmeg | 160 | credit nutmeg state union | 6 |
credit federal nutmeg state union | 52 | from isolation nutmeg trimyristin | 6 |
agriculture nutmeg | 35 | nutmeg grinder | 5 |
high nutmeg | 27 | credit nutmeg union | 5 |
company list nutmeg | 26 | nutmeg restaurant | 5 |
game nutmeg | 24 | hallucinogen nutmeg | 5 |
game nutmeg state | 21 | nutmeg use | 5 |
drug nutmeg | 18 | nutmeg mill | 5 |
nutmeg state | 16 | nutmeg stamp | 4 |
nutmeg oil | 14 | effects nutmeg | 4 |
fcu nutmeg state | 13 | exporter nutmeg | 4 |
nutmeg smoking | 11 | balsamic nutmeg spinach | 4 |
the nutmeg tree | 11 | nutmeg picture | 4 |
nutmeg seller | 9 | get high nutmeg | 4 |
as drug nutmeg | 8 | history nutmeg | 4 |
nutmeg trip | 8 | 2003 game nutmeg | 3 |
nutmeg grater | 7 | connecticut game nutmeg | 3 |
credit federal nutmeg union | 7 | nutmeg spice | 3 |
grenada nutmeg oil | 7 | lamp nutmeg | 3 |
ballet nutmeg | 7 | whole nutmeg | 3 |
inn nutmeg | 6 | award nutmeg | 3 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Language | Translations for "nutmeg"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Albanian | arxhiviz, arrëmyshk (Mace). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Arabic | جوزة الطيب (muskrose), شجرة جوز الطيب. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bulgarian | мускатово орехче, индийско орехче. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Chinese | 肉豆". (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Czech | muškátový oříšek. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Danish | muskatnoed, muskat. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Dutch | muskaatnoot. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Farsi | درخت جوز. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Finnish | muskotti (mace, nutmeg-tree). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
French | noix muscade, noix de muscade, muscadier. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
German | Muskatnuss. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Greek | μοσχοκάρυδο. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hungarian | szerecsendió (Mace). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Indonesian | pala. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Italian | noce moscata. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Japanese Kanji | 榧 (Japanese nutmeg tree). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Japanese Katakana | かや (hay, Japanese nutmeg tree, mosquito net, plants used for thatching, various gramineous grasses). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Manx | cro kytchinagh. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Pig Latin | utmegnay noz-moscada (nutria), trepadeira-azul (tree creeper). (various references) nucşoarã (Mace). (various references) мускатный орех (nutmeg tree). (various references) oraščić. (various references) nuez moscada. (various references) muskotnöt, muskot. (various references) ต้นจันทน์เทศ. (various references) küçük hindistancevizi. (various references) мускатний горіх. (various references) hạt nhục đậu khấu. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| Latin | 500 BCE-Modern | MYRISTICA FRAGRANS, Myristica fragrans houtt. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "nutmeg": nutmegs. (additional references) | |
| |
"Nutmeg" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: Ntmaga, nutmegged, nutmei, nutmet, nutmetg. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "e-g-m-n-t-u" | |
-1 letter: unmet. | |
-2 letters: gent, genu, geum, menu, mute, neum, tune, tung. | |
-3 letters: emu, eng, gem, gen, get, gnu, gum, gun, gut, meg, men, met, mug, mun, mut, net, nut, teg, ten, tug, tun. | |
-4 letters: em, en, et, me, mu, ne, nu, um, un, ut. | |
| Words containing the letters "e-g-m-n-t-u" | |
+1 letter: augment, mutagen, nutmegs, tegumen. | |
+2 letters: argentum, argument, augments, gunmetal, judgment, mutagens, tegument, tegumina, umangite. | |
+3 letters: argentums, argumenta, arguments, augmented, augmenter, augmentor, embruting, emulating, glutamine, gunmetals, judgement, judgments, magnitude, mustering, mutagenic, muttering, permuting, tegmentum, teguments, tumefying, umangites, unguentum. | |
+4 letters: argumentum, augmenters, augmenting, augmentors, besmutting, bethumping, demounting, engulfment, glutamines, integument, judgements, judgmental, magnitudes, multigenic, multirange, murthering, numerating, outbeaming, plummeting, reargument, remounting, subsegment, trumpeting, unmitering. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
Hexadecimal (or equivalents, 770AD-1900s) (references)4E 75 74 6D 65 67 |
| Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519; backwards) (references)
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| American Sign Language (origins from 1620-1817 in Italy and, especially, France) (references)
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| Semaphore (1791, in France) (references)
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| Braille (1829, in France) (references)
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Morse Code (1836) (references)-. ..- - -- . --. |
| Dancing Men (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 1903) (references)
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Binary Code (1918-1938, probably earlier) (references)01001110 01110101 01110100 01101101 01100101 01100111 |
HTML Code (1990) (references)N u t m e g |
ISO 10646 (1991-1993) (references)004E 0075 0074 006D 0065 0067 |
| British Sign Language (Fingerspelling, BSL; 1992, British Deaf Association Dictionary of British Sign Language) (references)
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Encryption (beginner's substitution cypher): (references)488786797173 |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Modern | 5. Usage: Commercial 6. Images: Slideshow 7. Images: Photo Album 8. Quotations: Non-fiction | 9. Usage Frequency 10. Names: Company Usage 11. Expressions 12. Expressions: Internet | 13. Translations: Modern 14. Translations: Ancient 15. Derivations 16. Anagrams | 17. Orthography 18. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
