A tropical South American tree or the timber from it, used for various purposes.
From indigenous Tupi or other South American languages, borrowed into Portuguese and English through colonial trade networks. The etymology is unclear but relates to South American wood and plant names.
Like many South American tree names (jacaranda, ipê, pau d'arco), 'caroba' entered English through Portuguese colonists who named the trees they encountered. These names reveal the meeting points of indigenous knowledge and European trade!
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