MANGROVE

noun Etymology: probably from Portuguese mangue ~ (from Spanish mangle, probably from Taino) + English grove Date: 1613 any of a genus ( Rhizophora, especially R. mangle of the family Rhizophoraceae) of tropical maritime trees or shrubs that send out many prop roots and form dense masses important in coastal land building and as foundations of unique ecosystems, any of numerous trees (as of the genera Avicennia of the vervain family or Sonneratia of the family Sonneratiaceae) with growth habits like those of the true ~s