Demerara

Etymology
The placename derives from an word. Perhaps Malali ("fast running stream"), which would have originally been the name of a section of rapids, from which the Dutch called the whole river de Malali ("the Malali"), which (with incorporation of the definite article into the name, and alternation of l and r) became Demerara. Alternatively, perhaps Immenary or Dumaruni meaning “river of the letterwood”. The sugar is so-called because it was grown in the region around the river.

Proper noun



 * 1) The, a river which rises in the rainforests of Guyana and flows north to the Atlantic Ocean, which the country's capital of Georgetown is situated on.
 * , Essequebo en Demerary (Essequibo and Demerara), formerly a Dutch (later British) colony, located around the lower courses of this river.

Noun



 * 1) A type of natural, unrefined or partially refined cane sugar, which is light brown in colour, particularly used in pastries and biscuits like shortbread.
 * 2) A dark rum, made in Guyana using molasses and this sugar, mainly used for blending.
 * 3) * 2010, Charmaine A. Nelson, Ebony Roots, Northern Soil: Perspectives on Blackness in Canada, page 314, quoting Yardley (a seaman in Canada circa 1900):
 * He related, “Down home we used to drink Demerara and when I was a lot younger than I am now I'd always get embarrassed, not being able to take it neat like most of them. You need a bull's gullet for neat Demerara."

Alternative forms

 * demerara
 * Demeraran, demeraran