🌳 Aromatic tree 🪵 Tough wood tree

spice tree

5.1

A tree that makes bark or berries used to flavor food

noun

: árbol de especias

The spice tree is valued for its fragrant bark used in cooking.

Examples

Many chefs use berries from the spice tree to add flavor to their dishes.
Many spice trees grow in tropical regions.
On our trip, we visited a plantation famous for its spice trees.
The spice tree produces fragrant bark.
Many chefs use berries from the spice tree to add flavor to their dishes.
The spice tree is valued for its fragrant bark used in cooking.
On our trip, we visited a plantation famous for its spice trees.

Synonyms

Cinnamomum zeylanicum

vsspice tree

Specialized

9.9

A tropical Asian evergreen tree with sweet-smelling bark used to make cinnamon

is the general name for trees making aromatic bark or berries used as spice

Ceylon cinnamon tree

vsspice tree

Specialized

7.1

A tropical tree from Sri Lanka with thin, fragrant bark used as true cinnamon

is a broader label for trees that yield aromatic bark or berries

Ceylon cinnamon

vsspice tree

4.9

A tropical tree with thin, fragrant brown bark that people use as a spice in baking

refers to trees that produce aromatic bark or berries generally rather than one species

Cinnamomum cassia

vsspice tree

Specialized

9.1

A Chinese tree whose dried bark is used as a common type of cinnamon

is the wide term for any tree producing aromatic bark or spice berries

cassia-bark tree

vsspice tree

9.9

A Chinese tree with strong-smelling bark used to make a type of cinnamon

covers all trees producing aromatic bark or berries, not only this Chinese type

cassia

vsspice tree

8.6

A Chinese tree whose fragrant bark is used as cinnamon

is the generic concept for trees that give aromatic bark or spice berries

Saigon cinnamon

vsspice tree

7.0

A Southeast Asian tree with strong, sweet bark used as a spice and in traditional medicine

is the general category for trees producing aromatic bark or berries for spice

Canella

vsspice tree

Specialized

9.9

A group of tropical trees with fragrant bark used as a spice like cinnamon

is the general term for trees producing aromatic bark or berries for spice use

pimento tree

vsspice tree

8.1

A tree that makes allspice berries used to flavor food

is the broad name for trees making aromatic bark or berries used as spices

allspice tree

vsspice tree

6.6

A tropical tree whose dried berries people grind and use as a spice

is the overall label for trees that yield aromatic bark or spice berries

allspice

vsspice tree

4.9

A tropical tree that makes small berries with a strong smell used as a spice

is the general concept covering all trees that produce spice bark or berries

nutmeg tree

vsspice tree

5.5

A tropical evergreen tree that produces the spices nutmeg and mace

is the generic term for trees yielding aromatic bark or berries rather than seeds

clove tree

vsspice tree

5.8

An evergreen tropical tree that makes small brown flower buds used as a spice and in medicine

is a broader name for trees that produce aromatic parts used as spices

How Aromatic

spice tree

5.1

aromatic

1 4.3

fragrant

34 2.2

scent

165 1.0

Surface Forms

spice tree singular

spice trees plural

Morphology

spice + tree

The noun phrase 'spice tree' is a straightforward compositional combination: a tree associated with or producing spices/aromatic parts, so a learner who knows 'spice' and 'tree' can infer this meaning. It is a literal, concrete referent rather than an idiom, and similar noun + noun/ noun phrase patterns appear across languages, supporting immediate comprehension at B1.

Etymology

Spice tree The noun spice tree may come from trees whose bark or berries smell like the spices used in cooking. People used those parts to add flavor, so the name came to mean 'a tree that produces aromatic bark or berries used as spices'.