arbor vitae
type of evergreen shrub, 1664, name given by Fr. physician and
botanist Charles de L?cluse, from L., lit. "tree of life." Used in late
18c. rogue's slang as a cant word for "penis."
arbor vitae n. any of the evergreen conifers of the genus Thuja, native to N. Asia and N. America, usu. of pyramidal habit with flattened shoots bearing scale leaves. Etymology: L, = tree
of life
arbor vitae
n. any of the evergreen conifers of the genus Thuja, native to N. Asia and
N. America, usu. of pyramidal habit with flattened shoots bearing scale
leaves. [L, = tree of life]
Thuja \Thu"ja\, n. [NL., from Gr. ? an African tree with
sweet-smelling wood.] (Bot.)
A genus of evergreen trees, thickly branched, remarkable for
the distichous arrangement of their branches, and having
scalelike, closely imbricated, or compressed leaves. [Written
also thuya.] See Thyine wood.
Note: Thuja occidentalis is the Arbor vit[ae] of the
Eastern and Northern United States. T. gigantea of
North-waetern America is a very large tree, there
called red cedar, and canoe cedar, and furnishes a
useful timber.
Arbor vitae \Ar"bor vi"t[ae]\ [L., tree of life.]
1. (Bot.) An evergreen tree of the cypress tribe, genus
Thuja. The American species is the T. occidentalis.
2. (Anat.) The treelike disposition of the gray and white
nerve tissues in the cerebellum, as seen in a vertical
section.
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