Ginger

1. a hot, fragrant spice made from the rhizome of a plant, which may be chopped or powdered for cooking, preserved in syrup, or candied.
2. a SE Asian plant, which resembles bamboo in appearance, from which ginger is taken.
3. a light reddish-yellow or orange-brown colour.
4. a quality of energy or spiritedness.

   the ginger had gone out of the men

adjective

(chiefly of hair or fur) of a light reddish-yellow or orange-brown colour.

1. make someone or something more lively.

   she slapped his hand lightly to ginger him up

late Old English gingifer, conflated in Middle English with Old French gingimbre, from medieval Latin gingiber, from Greek zingiberis, from Pali siṅgivera, of Dravidian origin.