豆蔻

Perhaps a variant of Tang-dynasty 多骨 (MC ta kwot), referring to cardamom imported from the Kakkola (伽古羅) country on the western coast of the Malaya Peninsula, which the Chinese from the eighth century thought produced both the nutmegs and the round cardamom (Amomum compactum), the latter possibly imported from Java (Donkin, 2003).

Compare Sanskrit तक्कोल (takkola, “a kind of perfume”), कक्कोल (kakkola, “a kind of plant; a perfume”), Pali takkola, Arabic قاقُلَّة (qāqulla, “cardamom”), Tibetan ཀ་ཀོ་ལ (ka ko la, “cardamom”), Javanese kapulaga.

Li Shizhen interprets this word as a compound of 豆 (“bean(-like)”) + 蔻 (“many; profusion”).

Cardamom flowers bloom in early summer. They appear very plump before they bloom, and are commonly known as "fetal flowers", so they have become a symbol of girlhood. From the Tang Dynasty, one of Du Mu's two farewell poems:

娉娉裊裊十三餘，豆蔻梢頭二月初。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]

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娉娉袅袅十三余，豆蔻梢头二月初。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: Tang Dynasty Du Mu's Farewell

Pīngpīng niǎoniǎo shísān yú, dòukòu shāotóu èryuè chū. [Pinyin]

(please add an English translation of this usage example)

豆蔻

1. cardamom, especially Cambodian cardamon (Wurfbainia vera) and Javanese cardamon (Wurfbainia compacta)
2. short for 肉豆蔻 (ròudòukòu, “nutmeg”)
3. (figurative) girl's teenage years (especially 13–14 years of age); maidenhood; budding beauty

• “豆蔻”, in 重編國語辭典修訂本 [Revised Mandarin Chinese Dictionary] (in Chinese), National Academy for Educational Research (Taiwan), 2021.