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

Still, she must have looked really engaging in a thin pattern of tattoo, a gauze work of oil and camwood, a dwarf pigeon tail of fan palm for an apron, and copper bracelets and anklets.

From The Life of Sir Richard Burton by Wright, Thomas

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 Beech, Franklin

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.

Another plan which has been followed is to give the wool a bottom with 5 to 6�lb. of camwood or peachwood, then mordanting and dyeing us usual.

From The Dyeing of Woollen Fabrics by Beech, Franklin

The captain receives payment, whether in cash or commodities, and weighs the camwood, or measures the palm-oil, at the merchant's store.

From Journal of an African Cruiser by Hawthorne, Nathaniel