Meaning & use
sandalwood
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Meanings
noununcountable
A pale, sweet-smelling wood from a tropical tree, used in carving, incense and perfume.
Grammar: No plural for the material: a box made of sandalwood.
Patterns
- made of sandalwood
- scented with sandalwood
The jewellery box was carved from sandalwood and smelled lovely.
Incense made of sandalwood filled the temple.
Sandalwood is expensive because the trees grow slowly.
nouncountabletechnical
The tree itself, a small tropical tree grown for its fragrant heartwood.
Grammar: Countable for the tree: three sandalwoods.
Patterns
- plant a sandalwood
Farmers in southern India plant a sandalwood beside another tree that feeds it.
A mature sandalwood can take thirty years to be worth cutting.
Word forms
| plural | sandalwoods |
|---|
Common combinations
- sandalwood oil
- A few drops of sandalwood oil perfumed the room.
- sandalwood incense
- She lit sandalwood incense before meditating.
- sandalwood soap
- I bought a bar of sandalwood soap at the market.
- sandalwood fragrance
- The perfume has a warm sandalwood fragrance.
- carved sandalwood
- The shop sold carved sandalwood elephants.
Synonyms and how they differ
- santalum
- Santalum is the scientific genus name and appears mainly in botany, unlike the everyday sandalwood.
- cedarwood
- Cedarwood is a different, drier-smelling wood, so it is not a true synonym.
Word family
- sandal noun
- an open shoe; not related in meaning to sandalwood
- sandalwood paste noun
- a cooling paste used in cosmetics and rituals
Commonly confused: sandalwood or sandal?
sandalwood vs sandal
A sandal is an open shoe, whereas sandalwood is a fragrant wood.
Practice
Which of these is sandalwood best known for?
Choose one answer.
Sandalwood is valued for its sweet fragrance in perfume and incense. The other options do not describe it.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “sandalwood”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.