Is FAK a word describing gourds and squashes in general, or can it also mean a specific vegetable?

Cooking-related books often mention FAK as:

ash gourd

bitter gourd

wax gourd

white gourd

bitter melon

winter melon

Thank you for your help.

According to the Royal Institute Dictionary:

ฟัก ๑ ชื่อไม้เถาชนิด Benincasa hispida Cogn. ในวงศ์ Cucurbitaceae

I translate this as:

fák #1 - the name of the creeper Benincasa hispida Cogn. in the family Cucurbitaceae.

Benincasa hispida is the winter melon/ash gourd/white gourd/winter gourd/tallow gourd/Chinese preserving melon/wax gourd. (Alternative names from Wikipedia. I know it as "winter melon" in English.)

So yes, it can refer to a specific vegetable.

It most certainly isn't bitter gourd/bitter melon (which I know as "karela") - Momordica charantia. มะระ (máˑrá) in Thai. It is, however, in the same family.

Edit: formatting

Edited May 12, 201412 yr by AyG

Dear AyG,

Thank you for your quick response. I appreciate it.

I have made corrections, according to the names you listed.

I guess that FAK can also refer to gourds and squashes in general (as a prefix).

Is that correct?

Correct? Yes.

Thanks AyG, for the confirmation on using registering FAK as a prefix.

Dear AyG,

Just one more question regarding FAK. I just noticed that they are shown with 3 different Thai names, which I guess could be regional names:

1. ฟัก FAK (already discussed)

2. ฟักเขียว FAK KIAO (green?)

3. ฟักงู FAK NGUU

Thanks for your help - sorry to bother you so much. Absolutely no hurry for your reply.

ฟักเขียว - another name for winter melon. See http://th.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%B8%9F%E0%B8%B1%E0%B8%81%E0%B9%80%E0%B8%82%E0%B8%B5%E0%B8%A2%E0%B8%A7

Can't immediately find any information about ฟักงู, other than to confirm that it's grown and can be eaten. Google (rather unhelpfully) thinks it's a misspelling of ฟักยู (which is from the English and is not very polite).

Dear AyG,

Thanks for the information on FAK GIAO.

If you find anything on FAK NGYUU, please let me know, but don't go to too much trouble. If it's not well known, it doesn't have to be included.