arborvitae

[ ahr-ber-vahy-tee ]

noun
  1. any of several ornamental or timber-producing evergreen trees belonging to the genus Thuja, of the cypress family, native to North America and eastern Asia, having a scaly bark and scalelike leaves on branchlets.

  2. Anatomy. arbor vitae.

Origin of arborvitae

1
1655–65 for def. 1; 1790–1800 for def. 2; <Latin: tree of life

Other definitions for arbor vitae (2 of 2)

arbor vitae
[ ahr-ber vahy-tee ]

nounAnatomy.
  1. a treelike appearance in a vertical section of the cerebellum, due to the arrangement of the white and gray nerve tissues.

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How to use arborvitae in a sentence

  • All the rest of the conifers have pendent cones, except the small-fruited cypresses and arbor-vitaes.

    Trees Worth Knowing | Julia Ellen Rogers
  • Its nearest relatives are the arbor-vitaes, sequoias, and the bald cypress of the South.

    Trees Worth Knowing | Julia Ellen Rogers

British Dictionary definitions for arbor vitae

arbor vitae

/ (ˈɑːbɔː ˈviːtaɪ, ˈvaɪtiː) /


noun
  1. any of several Asian and North American evergreen coniferous trees of the genera Thuja and Thujopsis, esp Thuja occidentalis, having tiny scalelike leaves and egglike cones: See also red cedar

Origin of arbor vitae

1
C17: from New Latin, literally: tree of life

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012