red sandalwood
- See under sandalwood(def 3).
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Origin of red sandalwood
First recorded in 1830–40
sandalwood
[san-dl-woo d]
- the fragrant heartwood of any of certain Asian trees of the genus Santalum, used for ornamental carving and burned as incense.
- any of these trees, especially S. album (white sandalwood), an evergreen of India, having ovate leaves and yellowish flowers that turn red.
- any of various related or similar trees or their woods, especially an East Indian tree, Pterocarpus santalinus (red sandalwood), of the legume family, or its heavy dark-red wood that yields a dye.
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Origin of sandalwood
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
sandalwood
sandal
- any of several evergreen hemiparasitic trees of the genus Santalum, esp S. album (white sandalwood), of S Asia and Australia, having hard light-coloured heartwood: family Santalaceae
- the wood of any of these trees, which is used for carving, is burned as incense, and yields an aromatic oil used in perfumery
- any of various similar trees or their wood, esp Pterocarpus santalinus (red sandalwood), a leguminous tree of SE Asia having dark red wood used as a dye
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Word Origin
C14 sandal, from Medieval Latin sandalum, from Late Greek sandanon, from Sanskrit candana sandalwood
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for red sandalwood
sandalwood
n.
1510s, earlier sandell (c.1400), saundres (early 14c.), from Old French sandale, from Medieval Latin sandalum, from Late Greek santalon, ultimately from Sanskrit čandana-m "the sandalwood tree," perhaps literally "wood for burning incense," related to candrah "shining, glowing," and cognate with Latin candere "to shine, glow" (see candle).
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper