: a large Asian evergreen tree (Cinnamomum camphora) of the laurel family grown in warm regions
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the WebNow Rojas prayed with Martinez’s mother and father, standing beneath the interlaced branches of a camphor tree. Rachel Swan, San Francisco Chronicle, 1 Nov. 2020 The dusk gave way to night when the cab driver dropped me off under our big camphor trees. Jiwei Xiao, The New York Review of Books, 6 Apr. 2020 Entering Meiji Shrine is like walking into Tokyo’s natural air-conditioning; the city is steamy in the summer, but a canopy of camphor trees covers the park-like entrance, offering cool shade. James Whitlow Delano, National Geographic, 25 Apr. 2019 Surrounded by mountains that form the face of a tiger, the basin is lined by pathways, dense camphor trees and Taiwan acacia.Smithsonian, 6 June 2017
Word History
First Known Use
1607, in the meaning defined above
Medical Definition
camphor tree
noun
: a large Asian evergreen tree of the genus Cinnamomum (C. camphora) that is grown in warm areas and has smooth branches and shining lanceolate leaves and from which camphor is obtained