Guaiacum

3 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Guaiacum \Gua"ia*cum\, n. [NL., fr. Sp. guayaco, from native
     name in Haiti.]
     1. (Bot.) A genus of small, crooked trees, growing in
        tropical America.
        [1913 Webster]
  


     2. The heart wood or the resin of the {Guaiacum officinale}
        or lignum-vit[ae], a large tree of the West Indies and
        Central America. It is much used in medicine. [Written
        also {guaiac}.]
        [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Lignum-vitae \Lig"num-vi"tae\ (l[i^]g"n[u^]m v[imac]"t[=e]), n.
     [L., wood of life; lignum wood + vita, genitive vit[ae],
     life.] (Bot.)
     A tree ({Guaiacum officinale}) found in the warm latitudes of
     America, from which the {guaiacum} of medicine is procured.
     Its wood is very hard and heavy, and is used for various
     mechanical purposes, as for the wheels of ships' blocks,
     cogs, bearings, and the like. See {Guaiacum}.
     [1913 Webster]
  
     Note: In New Zealand the {Metrosideros buxifolia} is called
           lignum-vit[ae], and in Australia a species of {Acacia}.
           The bastard lignum-vit[ae] is a West Indian tree
           ({Sarcomphalus laurinus}).
           [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  guaiacum
       n 1: medicinal resin from the lignum vitae tree
       2: hard greenish-brown wood of the lignum vitae tree and other
          trees of the genus Guaiacum [syn: {lignum vitae}, {guaiac}]
       3: small genus of evergreen resinous trees or shrubs of warm
          and tropical America [syn: {genus Guaiacum}]