A tropical tree native to South America with durable wood used for construction and shipbuilding.
From Tupi language of Brazil, where 'bia' means wood and 'jaiba' refers to a type of tree. The word entered European languages through Portuguese traders in the 16th century.
This word is a linguistic fossil from indigenous South American languages—when European colonists encountered unfamiliar trees, they borrowed the native names wholesale rather than trying to describe them. It's one of hundreds of words English stole from Tupi.
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