A vocabulary of landscape — a landscape of words
1469 entries
punk
Punk is soft decayed wood or dried fungal material used as tinder. It takes a spark readily, holds a slow smoldering ember for a long time without flaming, and can be carried from camp to camp to start the next fire. The best punk is the felt-like layer inside the hoof fungus, which is beaten out and treated and is properly called amadou.
Etymology
The word is American English and appears to come from an Algonquian language, where a related term named rotten wood used exactly this way. The route is not certain and an alternative account connects it to a Middle English word for a worthless thing.
Notes
Punk was carried as a fire-lighting kit component all over the world under different names, and it is what Ötzi, the man found in Alpine ice from around 3300 BC, had in his pouch alongside iron pyrite. A slow match made of punk or of treated fungus was the standard way of keeping fire portable before matches, and the same material was used to cauterize wounds and in moxibustion.