sequoia
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of sequoia
An Americanism dating back to 1840–50; named after Sequoya
Explanation
A sequoia is an ancient, towering redwood tree that grows on the coast of northern California and southern Oregon. Sequoias are the largest trees on Earth. Before commercial logging destroyed many of them, giant sequoias covered the entire coast of California, filling about two million acres of forest. The remaining trees are among the very oldest things on our planet; some are more than 2,000 years old. Sequoias are massive evergreens, the largest of which is as tall as a 30-story building. The sequoia was named after the Cherokee man, Sequoya, who invented a written form of the Cherokee language in the 1820s.
Vocabulary lists containing sequoia
Scrabble: Words with 5 Vowels
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This Week in Words: Current Events Vocab for February 24–March 1, 2024
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Two Degrees
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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.
Yosemite is famous for its awe-inspiring valley, while Sequoia and Kings Canyon are known for their giant sequoia trees.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 1, 2025
Authorities are investigating the death of a 29-year-old woman who was fatally struck by a tree limb while hiking through a grove of sequoia trees in Yosemite National Park.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 29, 2025
Without prompting he'll enthusiastically offer up fun facts about the Golden Gate Bridge, the subject of his book, or the root system of a sequoia.
From Salon ● Nov. 21, 2024
My favorite and inspiring tree is a sequoia that lives in a quarry south of Quilcene on the Olympic Peninsula.
From Seattle Times ● May 24, 2024
The Morris Fire’s flames were so big, so intense, that they could reach the top of a giant sequoia tree, two hundred and fifty feet in the air.
From "Two Degrees" by Alan Gratz
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.
