camwood

British  

/ ˈkæmˌwʊd /

noun

1. a W African leguminous tree, Baphia nitida, whose hard wood was formerly used in making a red dye

2. the wood of this tree

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Etymology

Origin of camwood

C20: perhaps from Temne

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

camwood

She came riding "pickaback" on a man's shoulders; a nice, modest, good-looking young woman, her hair rubbed all over with nkola, a red pigment, made from the camwood, and much used as an ornament.

From The Last Journals of David Livingstone, in Central Africa, from 1865 to His Death, Volume I (of 2), 1866-1868 by Horace Waller

With respect to the native head-dresses the colouring-matter, "nkola," which seems to be camwood, is placed as an ornament on the head, and some is put on the bark-cloth to give it a pleasant appearance.

From The Last Journals of David Livingstone, in Central Africa, from 1865 to His Death, Volume I (of 2), 1866-1868 by Horace Waller

The latter consisted chiefly of rubber, palm oil and kernels, coffee, piassava fiber, ivory, ginger, camwood, and arnotto.

From The Negro by W. E. B. (William Edward Burghardt) Du Bois

This method is more particularly applicable to such dye-stuffs as camwood, cutch, logwood, madder, fustic, etc., the colouring principles of which have some affinity for the wool fibre and will directly combine with it.

From The Dyeing of Woollen Fabrics by Franklin Beech

The principal heavy woods used for dyeing are fustic, logwood, Nicaragua wood, barwood, camwood, red Sanders wood, Brazil wood, and sappan wood.

From The Commercial Products of the Vegetable Kingdom Considered in Their Various Uses to Man and in Their Relation to the Arts and Manufactures; Forming a Practical Treatise & Handbook of Reference for the Colonist, Manufacturer, Merchant, and Consumer, on the Cultivation, Preparation for Shipment, and Commercial Value, &c. of the Various Substances Obtained From Trees and Plants, Entering into the Husbandry of Tropical and Sub-tropical Regions, &c. by P. L. Simmonds