logwood Meaning, Definition & Usage

noun very hard brown to brownish-red heartwood of a logwood tree; used in preparing a purplish red dye
noun spiny shrub or small tree of Central America and West Indies having bipinnate leaves and racemes of small bright yellow flowers and yielding a hard brown or brownish-red heartwood used in preparing a black dye
logwood tree; campeachy; Haematoxylum campechianum; bloodwood tree.

So called from being imported in logs.

The heartwood of a tree (Hæmatoxylon Campechianum), a native of South America, It is a red, heavy wood, containing a crystalline substance called hæmatoxylin, and is used largely in dyeing. An extract from this wood is used in medicine as an astringent. Also called Campeachy wood, and bloodwood.