Plural of hardwood; dense, durable wood from broad-leaved trees like oak, maple, and teak, used for furniture and flooring.
From 'hard' (Old English heard, dense/firm) + 'wood' (Old English wudu). The botanical term has been used since at least the 1600s to distinguish slow-growing dense woods from fast-growing softwoods like pine.
Hardwoods take 50-200 years to grow but last centuries in floors and furniture—this is why your great-grandmother's oak table still exists while modern pressed-wood pieces end up in landfills within years, making hardwoods a lesson in delayed gratification.
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