Meanings
plural fustics · alternative fustet · alternative fustoc · alternative fustick
- uncountableusuallyA tropical American tree (Maclura tinctoria), whose wood produces a yellow dye.
[…]nor can I tell to this day what wood to call the tree we cut down, except that it was very like the tree we call fustic, or between that and the Nicaragua wood, for it was much of the same colour and smell.
1719 May 6 (Gregorian calendar), [Daniel Defoe], The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, […], London: […] W[illiam] Taylor […], →OCLCSynonyms: old fustic, fustoc, young fustic, fustet, Venice sumac, Eurasian smoke tree
- uncountableusuallyA Eurasian smoketree (Cotinus coggygria), whose wood produces an orange dye.
- uncountableusuallyWood of these trees.
Fustic will also dye a yellow with alum for a mordaunt, either on woolen or silk, but it makes a poor color in comparison with the Quercitron, (American yellow oak bark.)
1847, editorial staff, “To Dye Yellow Color”, in Scientific American, series 1, Volume 3, Issue 9, page 72 - uncountableusuallyA yellow dye obtained from the wood of these trees.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA tropical American tree (Maclura tinctoria), whose wood produces a yellow dye.
Origin
- Middle Frenchfustec
- Middle Englishfustik
- Englishfustic
From Middle English fustik, from Middle French fustec, variant of fustet.
More words from Middle English, Middle French
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek θάψος, κοκκυγέα
- θάψος (thápsos)Cotinus coggygria
- κοκκυγέα (kokkugéa)Cotinus coggygria
Bulgarian смрадлика
- смрадлика (smradlika)Cotinus coggygria
German Perückenstrauch
- PerückenstrauchCotinus coggygria
Hungarian cserszömörce, sárga cserszömörce
- cserszömörceCotinus coggygria
- sárga cserszömörceCotinus coggygria
Italian scòtano
- scòtanoCotinus coggygria
Cite this entry
fustic. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fustic
“fustic.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fustic. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “fustic,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fustic.
Source: fustic on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.