niaoulin.
/nɪˈaʊli/, /nʌɪˈaʊli/, U.S. /niˈaʊli/, /naɪˈaʊli/ 1. An evergreen tree, Melaleuca quinquenervia (family Myrtaceae), native to New Caledonia, New Guinea, and eastern Australia and noted for its resistance to fire.
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the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > non-British trees or shrubs > [adjective]
simaroubaceous1818
paperbark1841
ficoid1884
ficoidal1884
niaouli1884
ternstrœmiaceous1885
Terminalia1926
tiare1931
1884 Encycl. Brit. XVII. 376/2 On the lower [hills]..there are fine grass lands, and a scattered growth of niaulis (Melaleuca viridiflora), useful for its timber, bark, and cajeput oil.
1921 Public Opinion 29 July 109/2 A mat of pandanus leaves served for his sail and a paddle of niaouli wood for its helm.
1963 Austral. Encycl. VI. 27/1 M[elaleuca] viridiflora is commonly recognized for the east-coast tree which extends to New Caledonia, surviving repeated fires and re-seeding heavily on the drier west coast of that island (where it is called ‘niaouli’).
1965 Univ. Iowa Stud. Nat. Hist. 20 vii. 52 (caption) This frequent burning maintains the enormous area of fire-resistant niaouli.
1993 Biodiversity Lett. 1 71 The sclerophyllous forest in the western part of the Territory rapidly decreased..leaving behind a uniform savanna of niaouli.
2. An inhabitant of New Caledonia. rare.
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the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > non-British trees or shrubs > [noun] > melaleuca tree or shrub
Melaleuca1777
paperbark1841
cajuput tree1876
milkwood1889
niaouli1943
1943 Amer. Speech 18 14 It would be..impossible to root them [sc. English words] out of the Niaouli's everyday language.
3. = niaouli oil n. at Compounds.
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the world > health and disease > healing > medicines or physic > medical preparations of specific origin > medicine composed of a plant > [noun] > oils and oily preparations
oil of rosesa1398
oil (of) hypericon1471
oil of philosophers1547
almond oil1560
oil of tile1634
brick oil1656
rosat1674
philosophical oil1750
oleosaccharum1757
oil of wintergreen1827
wintergreen oil1843
pinhoen oil1846
gaultheria oil1848
carap oilc1865
pulza oil1866
niaouli1993
1993 Herb Q. (Nexis) Fall Rub their backs and chests with oil to which a few drops of eucalyptus and niaouli or tea tree have been added.
2000 Here's Health May 26/1 Try a few drops of niaouli with cypress in a carrier such as olive oil.
Compounds
niaouli oil n. the aromatic essential oil derived from the niaouli tree, which has antibacterial and antifungal properties.
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1955 G. M. Hocking Dict. Terms Pharmacognosy 150/1 Niaouli,..source of n [iaouli] oil (‘gomenol’ in dilution).
1987 D. J. Mabberley Plant-bk. 363 Source of niaouli oil like cajuput, the trees forming almost pure stands after the native vegetation of New Caledonia is destroyed by fire.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2003; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1884