/tooh"peuh loh', tyooh"-/ , n. , pl. tupelos .
1. any of several trees of the genus Nyssa, having ovate leaves, clusters of minute flowers, and purple, berrylike fruit, esp. N. aquatica, of swampy regions of the eastern, southern, and midwestern U.S.
2. the soft, light wood of these trees.
[ 1720-30, Amer.; perh. 'topilwa lit., swamp tree (equiv. to íto tree + opílwa swamp) ]