ordeal tree
noun
Simple meaning
A poisonous tree of Madagascar.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
awrdeeltreeSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ɔɹˈdiltˈɹi
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
A poisonous tree of Madagascar (Cerbera manghas (syn. Tanghinia venenifera). Those suspected of crime were forced to eat the seeds of the plumlike fruit, and criminals were put to death by being pricked with a lance dipped in the juice of the seeds.
A similar tree (Erythrophleum spp.) put to similar use in Liberia; sassywood.
A term used variously to describe trees whose products have been used in ordeal tests.
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A poisonous tree of Madagascar (Cerbera manghas (syn. Tanghinia venenifera). Those suspected of crime were forced to eat the seeds of the plumlike fruit, and criminals were put to death by being pricked with a lance dipped in the juice of the seeds.
Used this way, ordeal tree is a reasonably familiar word with a clearly unfavourable pull. It carries more force than its gentler alternatives. It turns up most in personal or emotional discussion and literature or storytelling contexts.
- Emotional tone
- Negative
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Strong
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Serious and weighty
- Usage feel
- Everyday but emotionally strong
Where it naturally appears
- Personal/emotional discussion
- Literature/storytelling
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.