noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   A resinous exudation from various tropical trees, especially Hymenaea courbaril and Schinus terebinthifolia, used chiefly in making varnishes and printing ink. countable, uncountable
2. 2
   a brittle aromatic resin used in varnishes wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

paintresin

Etymology

From Spanish copal, from Classical Nahuatl copalli (“incense”).

Related phrases

Accra copalBrazilian copalCameroons gum copalCongo copalEast African copalEast Indian copalMadagascar copalManilla copalNiger copalSierra Leone copalSudan copalWest African copal

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.