α. 1800s demo.
β. 1800s rema, 1800s remo, 1800s–1900s remu, 1800s– rimu.
rimun.
/ˈrɪm(j)uː/, /ˈriːm(j)uː/, U.S. /ˈrɪm(j)u/, /ˈrim(j)u/, New Zealand English /ˈrimu/, /ˈriːm(j)uː/ 1. A tall evergreen tree of New Zealand, Dacrydium cupressinum (family Podocarpaceae), also called red pine. Also attributive, as rimu-pine, rimu tree, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > non-British trees or shrubs > Australasian trees > [noun] > evergreens > red pine
red pine1766
rimu1820
1820 T. Kendall & S. Lee Gram. & Vocab. Lang. N.Z. 165 Ko dímu dímu; A certain tree.]
1820 A. McCrae Jrnl. (1928) 20 Here we found the trees..of that kind called by the natives Demo and Totara. The former resembles the pine and the latter has a leaf like the yew tree.
1835 W. Yate Acct. N.Z. (ed. 2) ii. 40 Rimu... This elegant tree comes to its greatest perfection in shaded woods.
1843 E. Dieffenbach Trav. N.Z. I. xiv. 224 What..can be more delicate than the graceful rimu-pine with pendent branches?
1872 A. Domett Ranolf & Amohia vi. iii. 117 He lay couched in a rimu-tree one day.
1900 Longman's Mag. Jan. 232 Feathery rimus, scraggy topped white pines, fern trees.
1923 Science 2 Nov. 341/2 The native forests, many of which have been much depleted of late, consist largely of totari, tawa, remu, matai and beech.
1954 Econ. Geogr. 30 285/2 Stewart Island had a similar cover from which quantities of rimu or red pine (Dacrydium cupressinum) have been cut.
1997 New Scientist 19 Apr. 5/3 Female kakapos, which care for their chicks alone, need rimu fruit in their food in order to come into peak breeding condition.
2005 C. Tudge Secret Life Trees ii. 41 The Podocarpaceae includes the New Zealand conifers: the kahikatea, the matai, the miro, the rimu.
2. The straight-grained wood of this tree.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > wood > wood of specific trees > [noun] > other Australasian woods
puriri1835
beef-wood1836
whau1840
rimu1851
cheesewood1854
Tolosa-wood1866
karri1870
ivorywood1887
1851 Official Descriptive & Illustr. Catal. Great Exhib. IV. 1001/2 Specimens of New Zealand furniture woods:—..Rimu (Dacrydium cupressinum).
1865 W. Colenso Ess. Bot. N. Island N.Z. 34 Long war-spears were also made of Rimu.
1934 Archit. Rev. 76 70/2 Birch and hard maple from North America, rimu and matai from New Zealand..are all good flooring timbers.
1984 Metro (Auckland) Mar. 39/3 We walk..into the main chapel where 120 can be comfortably seated on rimu chairs.
2002 Press (Christchurch, N.Z.) 11 Mar. 19/1 Thurston has been making fine furniture, mostly in rimu, for nearly 30 years.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2010; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
<
n.1820