English

Noun

cambium ‎(plural cambiums or cambia)

1. (botany) A layer of cells between the xylem and the phloem that is responsible for the secondary growth of roots and stems.
   • 1863, Harland Coultas, What may be learned from a tree

     During winter we perceive no change in the cells of the cambium layer, which are filled with nutritive matter […].

2. (obsolete) One of the humours formerly believed to nourish the bodily organs.
   • 1621, Robert Burton, The Anatomy of Melancholy, Bk.I, New York, 2001, p.147:

     The radical or innate is daily supplied by nourishment, which some call cambium, and make those secondary humours of ros and gluten to maintain it […].

Translations

Latin

Etymology

From Gaulish cambion, *kambyom ‎(“change”), from Proto-Celtic *kambos ‎(“twisted, crooked”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ḱh₂mbós, *(s)kh₂mbós ‎(“crooked”), from *(s)kh₂emb- ‎(“to bend, curve”). Cognate with Ancient Greek σκαμβός ‎(skambós, “crooked”), Old Irish camm ‎(“crooked”), Welsh cam ‎(“crooked”), Breton kamm ‎(“crooked”), Old High German skimph ‎(“joke, amusement, pastime”), Swedish skumpa ‎(“to limp”), Persian خم ‎(kham, “curve, crook”). More at change.

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈkam.bi.um/, [ˈkam.bi.ũ]

Noun

cambium n ‎(genitive cambiī); second declension

1. (Late Latin) A change
2. (Late Latin) cambium

Derived terms

• cambiō

Descendants

• English: cambium (borrowed)
• French: cambium (borrowed)
• Italian: cambio
• Spanish: cambio, cambium (borrowed)

References

• CAMBIUM in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition, 1883–1887)
• Félix Gaffiot (1934), “cambium”, in Dictionnaire Illustré Latin-Français, Paris: Hachette.
• cambium in Ramminger, Johann (accessed 16 July 2016) Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700, pre-publication website, 2005-2016

Spanish

Etymology

From Late Latin cambium

Noun

cambium m ‎(plural cambiums)

1. cambium