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chin·che·rin·chee

(chĭn′chə-rĭn-chē, chĭng′kə-)

A southern African bulbous plant (Ornithogalum thyrsoides) having fragrant clusters of showy white blossoms that are popular as cut flowers.

[Afrikaans tjienkerientjee : tjienker-, imitative of a tinkling sound (from the sound the stems make when rubbed together) + uintjie, bulb, diminutive of ui, onion (from Middle Dutch uyen, ultimately from Latin uniō, a kind of onion).]

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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