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

His face was streaked red with camwood, and around his eyes he had painted two white circles.

From The Keepers of the King's Peace by Wallace, Edgar

Vegetable adjective colours are Brazil wood, containing the dye-generating principle Brasilin, logwood, containing Hæmatein, and santal-wood, camwood, and barwood, containing Santalin.

From The Chemistry of Hat Manufacturing Lectures Delivered Before the Hat Manufacturers' Association by Shonk, Albert

About thirty miles east of Bassia Cove, in the republic of Liberia, is the commencement of a region of unknown extent, where scarcely any tree is seen except the camwood.

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 Simmonds, P. L.

For a rich mild red colour, rectified spirits of naphtha, dyed with camwood dust, or an oily decoction of alkanet-root.

From French Polishing and Enamelling A Practical Work of Instruction by Bitmead, Richard

On the first day following the tax palaver Bosambo went down the river with four canoes, each canoe painted beautifully with camwood and gum, and with twenty-four paddlers.

From Bones Being Further Adventures in Mr. Commissioner Sanders' Country by Wallace, Edgar