Word.ws English Dictionary

lignum vitae

lignum vitae noun: guaiacum trees, of species Guaiacum officinale and Guaiacum sanctum.

Noun

lignum vitae (countable and uncountable, plural lignum vitaes)

  1. (countable) guaiacum trees, of species Guaiacum officinale and Guaiacum sanctum.
    Synonyms:
    guaiacum, guayacan
  2. (uncountable) The wood or resin from such trees.
    • The steamer Lee Yuen, when about 30 miles from Foochow, abreast of Fuhyan, on her passage from this port to Foochow, carried away the lignum vitæ bush in the stern tube. She was beached for one tide under the lee of Matsu Island, for temporary repairs, and then proceeded to Foochow, where she has...1875 January 21, “Summary of News”, in North-China Herald and Supreme Court & Consular Gazette, volume XIV, number 402, Shanghai, →OCLC, page 47, column 2

Synonyms of lignum vitae

Forms of lignum vitae

plurallignum vitaes

Origin of lignum vitae

From Latin lignum (“wood”) vitae (“of life”).

Questions about lignum vitae

What does lignum vitae mean?
Lignum vitae means guaiacum trees, of species Guaiacum officinale and Guaiacum sanctum.
What part of speech is lignum vitae?
Lignum vitae is a noun.
What is the plural of lignum vitae?
The plural of lignum vitae is lignum vitaes.

Words near lignum vitae in the dictionary

  1. lignous
  2. lignum
  3. lignum aloes
  4. lignum nephriticum
  5. lignum rhodium
  6. lignum vitae
  7. lignum vitaes
  8. lignums
  9. lignumvitae
  10. LIGO
  11. Ligon

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: lignum vitae (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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