Plural of algum; multiple pieces or types of precious or valuable wood from biblical references.
Simply the plural form of 'algum', from Hebrew 'almug' or 'algum'. Appears in biblical texts referring to multiple quantities of this precious material.
When biblical translators pluralized 'algum' to 'algums,' they preserved an ancient word that even then was mysterious—King Solomon's scribes recorded receiving 'algums,' but whether it was one type of tree or several remains one of biblical botany's unsolved puzzles.
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