dyewood en · NOUN
Etymology
From dye + wood.
Meanings
-
(countable, uncountable) Any wood (including bark) from which colouring matter is extracted for dyeing.
Cochineal was cultivated in individual households, indigo was common, and several dyewoods were indigenous.
1979, Kax Wilson, A History of Textiles, Westview Press, →ISBN, page 336:He would take with him red brasilwood from the East Indies – a dye-wood that was so valued that when a few years later the Portuguese found it in the New World, they would name a country after it.
2002, Victoria Finlay, Colour, Sceptre, published 2003, page 198:
- (countable, uncountable) A tree from which such wood is harvested.
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| dyewoods | Number=Plur | lexicographic | |
| dye-wood | alternative | lexicographic |