Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A transparent, often yellowish, viscous oleoresin obtained from South American trees of the genus Copaifera in the pea family, used in certain varnishes and as a fixative in some perfumes.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The balsam or resinous juice flowing from incisions made in the stem of a plant, Copaifera officinalis, and several other species of the genus, growing in Brazil, Peru, and elsewhere. See Copaifera.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Med.) A more or less viscid, yellowish liquid, the bitter oleoresin of several species of Copaifera, a genus of trees growing in South America and the West Indies. It is stimulant and diuretic, and was formerly much used in affections of the mucous membranes. It is also used in varnishes and lacquers, and in cleaning oil paintings. -- called also balsam of copaiba, copaiba balsam, balsam capivi, and Jesuits' resin.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun An oleoresin, from South American trees of the genus Copaifera, used in varnishes, ointments and as a perfume fixative.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun an oleoresin used in varnishes and ointments

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Spanish, from Portuguese copaíba, from Tupí cupaiba.]

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