mustaiba

alternative mostahiba

1. uncountableA close-grained, heavy wood from Brazil, used in turning, for making the handles of tools, etc.

   King-wood, Maracaybo wood, and Mustaiba wood, all imported from Brazil, and Nicaragua wood from Central America, are of unknown botanical origin.

   1871, Robert Main Admiralty, A manual of scientific enquiry, page 391

   3 more examples

   Mustaiba, from the Brazils and Rio Janeiro, is imported in logs 7 by 10 in., and also in planks; it is generally of an inferior rosewood character but harder, and is sometimes equally good;

   1843, John Forbes Royle, Descriptive Catalogue of the Woods Commonly Employed in this Country for the Mechanical and Ornamental Arts

   Amongst some of the rarer and more beautifully marked woods, used in small quantities, are the following: Mustaiba, Peruvian, Rosetta, Palmyra, Pheasant Wood, Snakewood, Partridge Wood, Purple Wood, Yacca Wood, Princes Wood.

   1899, Frederick Litchfield, Illustrated History of Furniture, page 262

   There are some remarkable instances of specialization - Mustaiba, for instance, was imported for the manufacture of the handles of flaziers' knives at Sheffield, Padauk for piano-cases, and Jarrah for London pavements.

   1976 July, Barbara Strang, “The Influence of International Trade on the English Language”, in Journal of the Royal Society of Arts, page 433