amadou

From French amadou (“tinder, lure, bait”), from amadouer (“to allure, caress”), perhaps from Icelandic mata (“to feed”), which is akin to English meat.

• IPA^(key): /ˈæ.mə.duː/

amadou (uncountable)

1. A spongy, flammable substance prepared from bracket fungi, formerly used as a styptic and as tinder.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Ure to this entry?)

From Middle French *amadou, from amadouer (“to coax, cajole, rub with touchwood”). Alternatively, often considered to be derived from Provençal amadou, from Latin amator. More at amadouer.

amadou m (plural amadous)

1. lure; bait
2. tinder; kindling; touchwood; spunk

• amadouer

• “amadou” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).