sterculia

[ stur-kyoo-lee-uh ]

/ stɜrˈkyu li ə /

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noun

any of various tropical trees of the genus Sterculia, of which some species are grown as ornamentals and some are the source of commercially valuable wood.

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Origin of sterculia

1765–75; <New Latin, equivalent to Latin Stercul(us) a Roman deity supposed to have invented manuring (derivative of stercus manure, excrement) + ia-ia; from the fetid odor of the blossoms of certain species

Words nearby sterculia

stepwise, -ster, steradian, stercoraceous, stercoricolous, sterculia, sterculiaceous, sterculia gum, stere, stereo, stereobate

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use sterculia in a sentence

This is a large, spreading tree (a species of sterculia) under which the bentang is commonly placed.
Travels in the Interior of Africa, Vol. 2 [of 2]|Mungo Park
The inner bark of Sterculia villosa is used for making ropes for timber-dragging purposes.
In the Andamans and Nicobars|C. Boden Kloss
Sterculia was frequent, and we collected a great quantity of its ripe seeds.
Journal of an Overland Expedition in Australia|Ludwig Leichhardt
The country was well grassed and openly wooded with box, sterculia, leguminous ironbark, and terminalia.
Journals of Australian Explorations|A C and F T Gregory

Casually found on the Nam Toroon, a Sterculia arborea, florib-masculis clavato, infundibul.
Journals of Travels in Assam, Burma, Bhootan, Afghanistan and The|William Griffith

British Dictionary definitions for sterculia

sterculia

/ (stɜːˈkjuːlɪə) /

noun

a dietary fibre used as a food stabilizer and denture adhesive. It is the dried gum tapped from the trunk and stems of the tree Sterculia urens, native to Central India and Pakistan

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012