rooihout, noun

/ˈrɔɪhəʊt/
Forms:
roodehout, roodhoutShow more Formerly also roodehout, roodhout, roye-houtt.
Origin:
South African Dutch, AfrikaansShow more South African Dutch, roode (later Afrikaans rooi) red + hout timber.
Either of two trees of the Ochnaceae having red wood, Ochna arborea (also occasionally called Cape plane), or O. citropurpurea; the wood of these trees. Also attributive.
1790 tr. of Le Vaillant’s Trav. II. 288Another tree, called Roye-houtt (red wood) so named from its deep red colour, grows very thick.
1812 J.T. Van der Kemp Acct of Caffraria 63There is a variety of timber, of which I will mention the names by which they are known in the Colony, viz. the geelhout, roodhout,..and the gonjawood.
1896 E. Clairmonte Africander 2A flock of long-tailed mouse-birds..would dash past to settle in a rooihout tree.
1913 C. Pettman Africanderisms 409Rooi hout,..Ochna arborea, one of the forest trees reserved by Government.
1973 E. Prov. Herald 28 May 13No self-respecting woodcutter would have the handle of his axe made from any timber other than ‘rooihout’ (Cape plane) a reddish close grained wood from a tree which has bark like the garden guava and never reaches much more than 15 centimetres in diameter.
1973 J. Vahrmeijer in Std Encycl. of Sn Afr. IX. 404Rooihout,..(Ochna arborea)...The name rooihout is also applied to Ochna atropurpurea.
1977 E. Palmer Field Guide to Trees of Sn Afr. 220O. atropurpurea Rooihout.
Either of two trees of the Ochnaceae having red wood, Ochna arborea (also occasionally called Cape plane), or O. citropurpurea; the wood of these trees. Also attributive.
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Afrikaans
rooigrass, nounn.rooikat, nounn.
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