champac

American  

[cham-pak, chuhm-puhk] / ˈtʃæm pæk, ˈtʃʌm pʌk /

Also champaca

noun

1. a southern Asian tree, Michelia champaca, of the magnolia family, having fragrant yellow or orange flowers and yielding an oil champaca oil used in perfumes.

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champac British  

/ ˈtʃʌmpʌk, ˈtʃæmpæk /

noun

1. a magnoliaceous tree, Michelia champaca, of India and the East Indies. Its fragrant yellow flowers yield an oil used in perfumes and its wood is used for furniture

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Etymology

Origin of champac

1760–70; < Hindi campak < Sanskrit campaka

Example Sentences

There were magnolias, shaddocks, hibiscus, the almost too fragrant yellow-flowered champac, sacred to Hindoo mythology; nutmeg and cinnamon trees, tea and coffee, and every other conceivable plant and tree, growing in the wildest luxuriance.

From A Voyage in the 'Sunbeam' Our Home on the Ocean for Eleven Months by Brassey, Annie

From the wood of the champac the images of Buddha are carved for the temples.

From Ceylon; an Account of the Island Physical, Historical, and Topographical with Notices of Its Natural History, Antiquities and Productions, Volume 1 by Tennent, James Emerson, Sir

Occasionally the senses are charmed by the fragrant, yellow-flowered champac, held sacred by the Hindus, from the wood of which the small images of Buddha are carved for the temples.

From The Pearl of India by Ballou, Maturin Murray

And the persistent jungle, ever encroaching on space, had out-posts of champac and wild mango, their giant roots, like the arms of an octopus, holding anchorage in clefts of the rock.

From Caste by Fraser, William Alexander

Round and round I went, taking the wind from every quarter; there was the scent of nothing but the white jasmine, and the yellow-hearted champac.

From The Sa'-Zada Tales by Fraser, William Alexander