A large South American tree (Prioria copaifera) producing heavy, dark hardwood used for construction and shipbuilding.
From Spanish/Portuguese 'cativo,' borrowed from a Tupi or indigenous South American language. The tree name entered European languages through colonial contact.
The cativo tree's wood is so dense and rot-resistant that it was highly prized for ship construction—colonial traders learned about its properties from indigenous peoples and built it into their shipbuilding industries.
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