melkhout, noun

/ˈmelkhəʊt//ˈmɛlkhəʊt/
Origin:
Afrikaans, South African DutchShow more Afrikaans (earlier South African Dutch), melk milk + hout wood.
In full melkhout tree, or melkhoutboom/-bʊəm/ [Afrikaans boom tree]: (the timber of) any of several species of tree of the Sapotaceae which exude a milky sap upon injury, especially a. the milkwood (sense (a) see milk sense 2), Sideroxylon inerme; also with distinguishing epithet, white or wit melkhout, witte melkhout/vət(ə)/ [Afrikaans, wit, witte white]; and b. Mimusops obovata; also with distinguishing epithet, red melkhout, formerly also roode melkhout/rʊədə/ [Dutch, roode attributive form of rood red]; also called milkwood (see milkwood sense (b) at milk sense 2).
a1823 J. Ewart Jrnl (1970) 81Three very large trees of a species I had never before seen grew seemingly from one root, they were called the melk hout or milk wood; their foliage had a resemblance to that of the box-wood with the dusky colour of the yew.
1887 S.W. Silver & Co.’s Handbk to S. Afr. 125Thorn trees..and a few trees of the Melkhout, Sideroxylon inerme.
1887 S.W. Silver & Co.’s Handbk to S. Afr. 130In those of Klein and Van Stadans rivers are found..Melkhout (Sideroxylon inerme)..Red Melkhout (Mimusops obovata).
1913 C. Pettman Africanderisms 317Melkhout boom,..Sideroxylon inerme is so called in the Riversdale District.
1913 C. Pettman Africanderisms 409Roode melkhout, Mimusops obovata. See Red Milkwood.
1913 C. Pettman Africanderisms 564Witte melkhout, Sideroxylon inerme, the timber of which is much esteemed for boat building, mill, and bridge purposes.
1933 W.H.S. Bell Bygone Days 38The barrel and lock were treasure trove...We lost no time in making a stock from a piece of melkhoutboom which we cut in the bush. This wood is very hard and..very suitable for the purpose.
1949 L.G. Green In Land of Afternoon 99This captain..found a melkhout tree near the highwater mark; so he posted his letter in an old shoe, which he hung on a branch of the tree.
1963 A.M. Louw 20 Days 184Covering the..hillock..was a thick, sub-tropical growth of taaibos, melkhout.
1966 Cape Times 24 Sept. (Weekend Mag.) 4Whenever..I have mentioned the planting of melkhout or yellowwoods.., someone is always certain to say: ‘Oh but aren’t they too slow-growing?’
1971 Baraitser & Obholzer Cape Country Furn. 259Other woods used are melkhout and yellowwood. They do not last as long and are inclined to crack, rot or become infested by beetles.
1985 A. Tredgold Bay between Mountains 174A big melkhout tree, called the trekboom, grows on the headland.
1990 Weekend Post 19 May (Leisure) 7Back along the terrace past a very large melkhout tree (Sideroxylon inerme) was a well-grown kershout.
the milkwood (sense (a) see milk sense 2), Sideroxylon inerme; also with distinguishing epithet, white or wit melkhout, witte melkhout/vət(ə)/ [Afrikaans, wit, witte white]; and
Mimusops obovata; also with distinguishing epithet, red melkhout, formerly also roode melkhout/rʊədə/ [Dutch, roode attributive form of rood red]; also called milkwood (see milkwood sense (b) at milk sense 2).
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