Agallochon

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A fragrant, resinous wood from certain Asian trees, burned as incense or used in perfumes
2. An aromatic heartwood from Aquilaria trees, prized since antiquity for its sweet scent when burned
3. The dark, perfumed resin-rich wood of an Asian tree, valued in ancient times for incense and medicine

Etymology: Ancient Greek writers used "agallochon" for the dark, resinous heartwood of a tree now classed in the genus Aquilaria, native to South and Southeast Asia. The wood was valued for incense and perfume, and it reached the Mediterranean through long-distance trade. The Greek word is generally linked to the Sanskrit "aguru," meaning "heavy," a fitting name for wood dense enough to sink in water. The Sanskrit term seems to have travelled westward with the trade in the wood, though the exact route and the details of the borrowing are uncertain. English took the word through Latin "agallochum," and the wood also came to be called "aloeswood." Medieval and early modern writers often confused it with the medicinal aloe plant, a name from Greek "aloē," so the two terms became tangled in English usage.