Turpentine
noun, verb ·Moderate ·College level
Definitions
- 1 Any oleoresin secreted by the wood or bark of certain trees. countable, uncountable
- 2 volatile liquid distilled from turpentine oleoresin; used as paint thinner and solvent and medicinally wordnet
- 3 A volatile essential oil now obtained from such oleoresin of from the wood of pine trees by steam distillation; a complex mixture of monoterpenes; now used as a solvent and paint thinner. countable, uncountable
- 4 an oleoresin obtained from conifers (especially pines) wordnet
- 5 A turpentine tree (genus Syncarpia). Australia, countable, uncountable
"Turpentine timber was obtained from the forests outside Maryborough and Townsville, and shipped by rail and landing craft to Hayman Island."
- 1 To drain resin from (a tree) for use in making turpentine. transitive
Example
More examples"So they gave him all the strange gods they had, and the earrings which were in their ears: and he buried them under the turpentine tree, that is behind the city of Sichem."
Etymology
From Middle English terebentyne, terbentyne, turbentine, from Old French terbentine, turbentine, Latin terebinthīna, from terebintha, from Ancient Greek τερεβινθίνη (terebinthínē), from τερεβινθινος (terebinthinos), from τερέβινθος (terébinthos). Related to terpene and terpin; etymologically equivalent to terebinth + -ine.
Related phrases
More for "turpentine"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.