sandalwood

UK: /ˈsænd^əlwʊd/ US: /ˈsændəlˌwʊd/ ,(san′dl wŏŏd′)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026

san•dal•wood /ˈsændəlˌwʊd/   n. [uncountable]

1. Plant Biology the sweet-smelling reddish yellow wood of an Indian tree, used for incense and ornamental carving.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

san•dal•wood  (san′dl wŏŏd′), n. 

1. Plant Biology the fragrant heartwood of any of certain Asian trees of the genus Santalum, used for ornamental carving and burned as incense.
2. Plant Biology any of these trees, esp. S. album (white sandalwood), an evergreen of India, having ovate leaves and yellowish flowers that turn red.
3. Plant Biology any of various related or similar trees or their woods, esp. an East Indian tree, Pterocarpus santalinus (red sandalwood,) of the legume family, or its heavy dark-red wood that yields a dye.

• sandal² + wood¹ 1505–15

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

sandalwood / ˈsænd^əlˌwʊd/, sandal, sanderswood noun

1. any of several evergreen hemiparasitic trees of the genus Santalum, esp S. album (white sandalwood), of S Asia and Australia, having hard light-coloured heartwood: family Santalaceae
2. the wood of any of these trees, which is used for carving, is burned as incense, and yields an aromatic oil used in perfumery
3. any of various similar trees or their wood, esp Pterocarpus santalinus (red sandalwood), a leguminous tree of SE Asia having dark red wood used as a dye

Etymology: 14th Century sandal, from Medieval Latin sandalum, from Late Greek sandanon, from Sanskrit candana sandalwood