lignum vitae

lig·num vi·tae  (lgnm vt)

n. pl. lignum vitaes

1. Either of two tropical American trees (Guaiacum officinale or G. sanctum) having evergreen leaves and very heavy, durable, resinous wood.

2. The wood of either of these trees, the hardest of commercial woods.

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[New Latin lignum vtae : Latin lignum, wood + Latin vtae, genitive of vta, life.]

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lignum vitae [lig-num vite-ee]

Noun

a tropical American tree with heavy resinous wood [Late Latin, literally: wood of life]

Thesaurus

Noun	1.	lignum vitae - hard greenish-brown wood of the lignum vitae tree and other trees of the genus Guaiacum guaiac, guaiacum Guaiacum officinale, lignum vitae - small evergreen tree of Caribbean and southern Central America to northern South America; a source of lignum vitae wood, hardest of commercial timbers, and a medicinal resin wood - the hard fibrous lignified substance under the bark of trees
	2.	lignum vitae - small evergreen tree of Caribbean and southern Central America to northern South America; a source of lignum vitae wood, hardest of commercial timbers, and a medicinal resin Guaiacum officinale genus Guaiacum, Guaiacum - small genus of evergreen resinous trees or shrubs of warm and tropical America guaiac, lignum vitae, guaiacum - hard greenish-brown wood of the lignum vitae tree and other trees of the genus Guaiacum guaiacum - medicinal resin from the lignum vitae tree angiospermous tree, flowering tree - any tree having seeds and ovules contained in the ovary