Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word
chunam. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
chunam, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
chunam in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
chunam you have here. The definition of the word
chunam will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of
chunam, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
English
Etymology
From Tamil சுண்ணம் (cuṇṇam, “lime, ground mortar”), from Sanskrit चूर्ण (cūrṇa, “powder; lime”).
Pronunciation
Noun
chunam (usually uncountable, plural chunams)
- A type of plaster used in India, made from shell-lime and sand.
- 1808–1810, William Hickey, Memoirs of a Georgian Rake, Folio Society 1995, p. 226:
- The one Mr Cleveland and I inhabited was, as I have already observed, constructed of mud instead of chunam.
1834, Rám Ráz, Essay on the Architecture of the Hindús, London: or the Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland; by John William Parker, , →OCLC, page 64:In all the operations of chunam work, jaggery water, i. e. a solution of molasses or coarse sugar, is invariably added by the builders, and its use appears to have prevailed from the remotest ages.
1888, Rudyard Kipling, “On the City Wall”, in In Black and White (A. H. Wheeler & Co.’s Indian Railway Library; no. 3), 5th edition, Allahabad: Messrs. A. H. Wheeler & Co.; London: Sampson Low, Marston, Searle, & Rivington, Ld., , published 1890, →OCLC:The floor of the room was of polished chunam, white as curds.
Verb
chunam (third-person singular simple present chunams, present participle chunaming or chunamming, simple past and past participle chunamed or chunammed)
- (transitive) To plaster or waterproof with chunam.
- The Sydney Morning Herald, Wednesday 8 March 1848
- A PUNT FOR SALE, thirty-four feet long, twelve feet broad, and three feet ten inches deep, chunamed, sheathed, and coppered, carries about fifteen tons.
Anagrams