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buttonwood

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Button Woods
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Buttonwood
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but⋅ton⋅wood

  [buht-n-wood]
Use buttonwood in a Sentence
–noun
Chiefly Eastern New England. sycamore (def. 1).
Origin:
1665–75, Americanism; button + wood 1
Button Woods
Button Woods Online. Shop Furniture at Target.
www.Target.com
Buttonwood
Known For Its Ability To Survive Makes It Perfect For All Levels!
www.bonsaiboy.com

syc⋅a⋅more

  [sik-uh-mawr, -mohr]
–noun
1. Also called buttonwood. any of several North American plane trees, esp. Platanus occidentalis, having shallowly lobed ovate leaves, globular seed heads, and wood valued as timber.
2. British. the sycamore maple.
3. a tree, Ficus sycomorus, of the Near East, related to the common fig, bearing an edible fruit.
Origin:
1300–50; ME sicomore < OF < L sȳcomorus < Gk sȳkómoros, equiv. to sŷko(n) fig + mór(on) mulberry + -os n. suffix, appar. by folk etymology < Sem; cf. Heb shiqmāh sycamore
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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but·ton·wood   (bŭt'n-wŏŏd')   
n.  

  1. See sycamore.

  2. An evergreen shrub or tree (Conocarpus erectus) growing in mangrove forests of tropical America and western Africa and having alternate leathery leaves and small buttonlike heads of greenish flowers. Also called button mangrove.

syc·a·more   (sĭk'ə-môr', -mōr')   


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n.  

  1. Any of various deciduous trees of the genus Platanus, especially P. occidentalis of eastern North America, having palmately lobed leaves, ball-like, nodding, hairy fruit clusters, and bark that flakes off in large colorful patches. Also called buttonball, buttonwood.

  2. A Eurasian deciduous maple tree (Acer pseudoplatanus) having palmately lobed leaves, winged fruits, and greenish flowers.

  3. A fig tree (Ficus sycomorus) of Africa and adjacent southwest Asia, mentioned in the Bible, having clusters of figs borne on short leafless twigs.


[Middle English sicamour, a kind of fig tree, from Old French sicamor, from Latin sȳcomorus, from Greek sūkomoros, perhaps of Semitic origin; see šqm in Semitic roots.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

sycamore 
c.1350, from O.Fr. sicamor, from L. sycomorus, from Gk. sykomoros, from sykon "fig" + moron "mulberry." Or perhaps a folk-etymology for Heb. shiqmah "mulberry." A Biblical word, originally used for a species of fig tree (Ficus sycomorus) common in Egypt, Syria, etc., whose leaves somewhat resemble those of the mulberry; applied from 1588 to Acer pseudoplatanus, a large species of European maple, and from 1814 to the North American shade tree that is also called buttonwood (Platanus occidentalis, introduced to Europe from Virginia 1637 by Filius Tradescant). Some writers have used the more Hellenic sycomore in ref. to the Biblical tree for the sake of clarity.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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