sandalwood
/ˈsandəlwʊd/ noun, proper noun
Forms sandalwoods sandal-wood
- noun Any of various tropical trees of the genus Santalum, native or long naturalized in India, Australia, Hawaii, and many south Pacific islands.
- noun 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.
- proper noun (informal) The Kannada film industry located in Bengaluru, Karnataka, India.
Etymology
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”).
From the word sandalwood, a local product, as a reference to Bollywood.
Webster’s 1913
Etymology [F. sandal, santal, fr. Ar. çandal, or Gr. sa`ntalon; both ultimately fr. Skr. candana. Cf. Sanders.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “sandalwood”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details