fustic

American  

[fuhs-tik] / ˈfʌs tɪk /

noun

1. the wood of a large, tropical American tree, Chlorophora tinctoria, of the mulberry family, yielding a light-yellow dye.

2. the tree itself.

3. the dye.

4. any of several other dyewoods.

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fustic British  

/ ˈfʌstɪk /

noun

1. Also called: old fustic.  a large tropical American moraceous tree, Chlorophora tinctoria

2. the yellow dye obtained from the wood of this tree

3. any of various trees or shrubs that yield a similar dye, esp Rhus cotinus ( young fustic ), a European sumach

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Etymology

Origin of fustic

1425–75; late Middle English fustik < Middle French fustoc < Arabic fustuq < Persian pistah; akin to Greek pistákē pistachio tree

Example Sentences

Dye with 8 per cent fustic, 2 per cent madder, 1 per cent cudbear, 2 per cent tartar.

From Vegetable Dyes Being a Book of Recipes and Other Information Useful to the Dyer by Mairet, Ethel M.

The fustic and cocoa tree is found here also in great abundance.

From An Account of the Campaign in the West Indies, in the Year 1794, Under the Command of their Excellencies Lieutenant General Sir Charles Grey, K.B., and Vice Admiral Sir John Jervis, K.B. by Willyams, Cooper

Old fustic is the most important of the yellow mordant dye-stuffs, and the colours are fast although not very brilliant.

From The New Gresham Encyclopedia Volume 4, Part 1: Deposition to Eberswalde by Various

To have a good green, dye blue first, then boil in turmeric and fustic bark, with alum and tartar, as usual.

From Blacker's Art of Fly Making, &c. Comprising Angling, & Dyeing of Colours, with Engravings of Salmon & Trout Flies by Blacker, William

This tree is sometimes called old fustic, in order to distinguish it from another commercial dye called young fustic, which is obtained in Europe from a species of Rhus.

From Catalogue of Economic Plants in the Collection of the U. S. Department of Agriculture by Saunders, William