alerce
Americannoun
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the wood of the sandarac tree.
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a Chilean evergreen tree, Fitzroya cupressoides, having furrowed, reddish bark and overlapping leaves.
noun
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the wood of the sandarac tree
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a cupressus-like Chilean pine, Fitzroya cupressoides, cut for timber
Etymology
Origin of alerce
First recorded in 1770–80; from Spanish, an extended meaning of alerce “European larch” (Larix decidua), influenced by Arabic al-ʾarz “the cypress, larch”; see origin at larch ( def. )
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.
Though logging alerce has been outlawed, illegal deforestation has continued to plague Chiloé, while native forest has been replaced by tree plantations.
From Salon • Mar. 15, 2024
The blaze broke out on Thursday at Los Alerces national park, a Unesco World Heritage site in northern Patagonia, which is home to huge alerce trees.
From BBC • Jan. 29, 2024
The next morning, the team headed west toward the Pacific coast to sample in Alerce Costero National Park, home to another old-growth forest dominated by a rare tree species, the alerce.
From Science Magazine • Jul. 6, 2022
In 1993, Lara and a colleague discovered an alerce tree stump in Chile that was more than 3,622 years old, placing alerce trees above giant sequoias as among the oldest trees in the world.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 6, 2022
On the higher parts, brushwood takes the place of larger trees, with here and there a red cedar or an alerce pine.
From The Voyage of the Beagle by Darwin, Charles
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.
