A rare or archaic term, possibly referring to a type of wood used medicinally or symbolically for brain health, or wood with a brain-like appearance or texture.
Compound of 'brain' and 'wood'; likely from folk medicine traditions or herbal naming practices where plant parts were named for body parts they supposedly treated (the 'doctrine of signatures').
Medieval herbalists often named plants based on what they looked like or where they grew—'brainwood' probably referred to walnut wood (walnuts look like brains!) which people believed helped thinking because of this resemblance.
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