Sandarac
WordNet
noun
(1) Large coniferous evergreen tree of North Africa and Spain having flattened branches and scalelike leaves yielding a hard fragrant wood; bark yields a resin used in varnishes
(2) A brittle and faintly aromatic translucent resin used in varnishes
(3) Durable fragrant wood; used in building (as in the roof of the cathedral at Cordova, Spain)
WiktionaryText
Etymology
, from .
Noun
- realgar; red sulphide of arsenic.
- A white or yellow resin obtained from a Barbary tree (Callitris quadrivalvis or Thuya articulata), and pulverized for pounce; probably so called from a resemblance to the mineral.
- Any tree from the genus Tetraclinis.
Quotations
- 1952: Oil was also used for making varnish, by dissolving sandarac in it, and as the 'vernysshe' which appears so frequently in accounts was always bought by the pound, the term was evidently applied to the sandarac, or other similar resinous substance. — L.F. Salzman, Building in England, p. 171.