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sap·pan·wood or sa·pan·wood

(sə-pănwd′, săpăn-, -ən-)

1. A tree (Caesalpina sappan) in the pea family, native to tropical Asia, having wood that yields a red dye.

2. The wood of this tree.

[Malay sapang + WOOD¹.]

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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