Sandalwood
//ˈsandəlwʊd// name, noun, slang
name, noun, slang ·Moderate ·College level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 Any of various tropical trees of the genus Santalum, native or long naturalized in India, Australia, Hawaii, and many south Pacific islands. countable, uncountable
- 2 close-grained fragrant yellowish heartwood of the true sandalwood; has insect repelling properties and is used for carving and cabinetwork wordnet
- 3 The aromatic heartwood of these trees used in ornamental carving, in the construction of insect-repellent boxes and chests, and as a source of certain perfumes. countable, uncountable
"You ſhall put in a little bag the Powder of Sandalwood with the aforeſaid well-ſcenting Spices, and heart-ſtrengthening Powders, and lay it warm upon the left breaſt."
Proper Noun
- 1 The Kannada film industry located in Bangalore, Karnataka, India. informal
Example
More examples"The box was made of sandalwood."
Etymology
Etymology 1
From sandal + wood, the first component being from Middle English sandal (“sandalwood”), from Medieval Latin sandalum, from Byzantine Greek σάνδανον (sándanon), σάνταλον (sántalon), from Arabic صَنْدَل (ṣandal), from Middle Persian [script needed] (cndl /čandal/, “sandalwood”), from Sanskrit चन्दन (candana, “sandalwood”).
Etymology 2
From the word sandalwood, a local product, as a reference to Bollywood.
Related phrases
More for "sandalwood"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.