madrone
Americannoun
-
any of several evergreen trees belonging to the genus Arbutus, of the heath family, especially A. menziesii Pacific madrone of western North America, having red, flaky bark and bearing edible reddish berries.
-
the pale reddish-brown wood of this tree.
Etymology
Origin of madrone
An Americanism dating back to 1835–45; from Latin American Spanish (Panama, Colombia), Spanish madroño “strawberry tree,” Mozarabic maṭroño; further origin uncertain
Compare meaning
How does madrone compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
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.
The madrone is common in Seattle, where I live, and, when I first moved here, my Seattle-native friends gave me the grand tour of the city’s most beautiful neighborhoods.
From Seattle Times • Nov. 18, 2022
One afternoon in June, Mr. Smith surveyed the damage to his forest, stopping at a madrone he especially liked but whose odds weren’t good.
From New York Times • Jul. 18, 2021
We gazed through a window at the tops of oak and madrone trees growing on the slope.
From The New Yorker • May 20, 2019
Firefighters described how hard it was to walk on steep slopes with brush and slick madrone leaves.
From Seattle Times • Oct. 2, 2017
In one place a forest of giant madrone trees joined their tops over a true tarn, a black, spring-fed lake.
From "Travels with Charley in Search of America" by John Steinbeck
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.
