sandarac
Americannoun
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a coniferous tree, Tetraclinis articulata (Callitrus quadrivalvis ), native to northwestern Africa, yielding a resin and a fragrant, hard, dark-colored wood much used in building.
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the brittle, usually pale-yellow, faintly aromatic resin exuding from the bark of this tree: used chiefly as incense and in making varnish.
noun
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Also called: sandarac tree. either of two coniferous trees, Tetraclinis articulata of N Africa or Callistris endlicheri of Australia, having hard fragrant dark wood: family Cupressaceae
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a brittle pale yellow transparent resin obtained from the bark of this tree and used in making varnish and incense
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Also called: citron wood. the wood of this tree, used in building
Etymology
Origin of sandarac
1350–1400; Middle English sandaracha < Latin sandaraca < Greek sandarákē realgar, beebread
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Rembrandt, from motives of economy, may have employed the scarcely less durable common "vernix" or sandarac oil varnish; and for certain effects may have reckoned on its tint.
From Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 62, No. 383, September 1847 by Various
Owing to the dark colour of this varnish, in which amber, or more frequently sandarac, was used, this plan, from its darkening effect on most colours, had hitherto proved unsuccessful.
From Great Pictures, As Seen and Described by Famous Writers by Singleton, Esther
To imitate ground glass, use a composition of sandarac, 2 1/2 ounces; mastic, 1/2 ounce; ether, 24 ounces; and benzine, 16 ounces.
From Practical Mechanics for Boys by Zerbe, James Slough
Always the eraser and the sandarac, the same inkstand, the same pens, and the same companions.
From Bouvard and Pécuchet A Tragi-comic Novel of Bourgeois Life by Flaubert, Gustave
A good can varnish is made by dissolving 15 parts of shellac, and adding thereto 2 parts of Venice turpentine, 8 parts of sandarac, and 75 parts of spirits.
From Practical Mechanics for Boys by Zerbe, James Slough
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
