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.^[1]

   Synonym: (dated) German tinder

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

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amadou m (plural amadous)

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

• amadouer

• “amadou”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.