Fragrant wood from tropical trees; a variant name for aloeswood or eaglewood.
From aloe + wood. Despite the aloe prefix, this refers to Aquilaria wood infected with beneficial fungus, not aloe plants. Medieval trade terminology created this misleading name that persisted through centuries.
Aloewood is another example of how medieval traders' vocabulary created persistent myths—they called this precious tropical wood 'alo' because it came through Arab alo-producing regions, and suddenly everyone thought it came from aloe plants.
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