MAHOGANY

noun (plural -nies) Etymology: origin unknown Date: 1660 the wood of any of various chiefly tropical trees (family Meliaceae, the ~ family):, a. the durable yellowish-brown to reddish-brown usually moderately hard and heavy wood of a West Indian tree ( Swietenia mahagoni ) that is widely used for cabinetwork and fine finish work, a wood similar to ~ from a congeneric tropical American tree (especially S. macrophylla ), b. the rather hard heavy usually odorless wood of any of several African trees (genus Khaya ), the rather lightweight cedar-scented wood of any of several African trees (genus Entandrophragma ) that varies in color from pinkish to deep reddish brown, any of various woods resembling or substituted for ~ obtained from trees of the ~ family, a tree that yields ~, a moderate reddish brown