Lignum

Lignum is the Latin word for wood. In classical and medieval texts, it denotes the woody tissue of plants and the material we commonly call wood. In English usage, the term survives mainly in phrases borrowed from Latin, such as lignum vitae or lignum crucis, and it also roots several modern terms derived from the same stem, including lignin.

Lignum vitae refers to two Caribbean tree species, Guaiacum officinale and Guaiacum sanctum. The wood is renowned for its extreme density and hardness, low shrinkage, and natural oils that give it self-lubricating properties. Historically, lignum vitae was prized for ship bearings, bushings, and other precision parts where durability mattered. Because the trees were heavily exploited, populations have declined and the wood is now subject to conservation measures and international trade restrictions in many jurisdictions.

In Christian tradition, lignum crucis means the wood of the True Cross. Relics and legends about fragments of the cross circulated widely in the Middle Ages and into early modern periods, sometimes described with Latin terminology that used lignum for wood.

Today, lignum appears mainly in historical, religious, or linguistic contexts. In modern science, the word survives in the Latin-derived vocabulary of botany and chemistry, notably in terms such as lignin, which reflects the wood’s structural material, and in learned discussions of wood as a material.