lignum vitae

lig·num vi·tae

L l

Transcription

- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- [lig-nuh m vahy-tee, vee-tahy]
- /ˈvaɪ.tiː ˈvaɪ tə, ˈvi-/

- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- [lig-nuh m vahy-tee, vee-tahy]
- /ˈvaɪ.tiː ˈvaɪ tə, ˈvi-/

Definitions of lignum vitae words

noun lignum vitae either of two tropical American trees, Guaiacum officinale or G. sanctum, of the caltrop family, having very hard, heavy wood. 1
noun lignum vitae the wood of such a tree, used for making pulley blocks, mallet heads, bearings, etc. 1
noun lignum vitae any of several other trees yielding a similar hard wood. 1
noun lignum vitae either of two zygophyllaceous tropical American trees, Guaiacum officinale or G. sanctum, having blue or purple flowers 0
noun lignum vitae the heavy resinous wood of either of these trees, which is used in machine bearings, casters, etc: formerly thought to have medicinal properties 0
noun lignum vitae guaiacum (sense 1) 0

See all 7 definitions of lignum vitae

Information block about the term

Origin of lignum vitae

First appearance:

before 1585

One of the 35% oldest English words

1585-95; < New Latin, Late Latin, name of the tree, literally, wood of life

Historical Comparancy

Parts of speech for Lignum vitae

noun

adjective

verb

adverb

pronoun

preposition

conjunction

determiner

exclamation

Full grammatical hierarchy of Lignum vitae

lignum vitae popularity

A pretty common term. Usually people know it’s meaning, but prefer to use a more spread out synonym. About 34% of English native speakers know the meaning and use word.

According to our data about 63% of words is more used. This is a rare but used term. It occurs in the pages of specialized literature and in the speech of educated people.

lignum vitae usage trend in Literature

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