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copal

  ('pəl, -păl') pronunciation
n.

Any of several brittle aromatic yellow to red resins of recent or fossil origin, obtained from various tropical trees and used in certain varnishes.

[Spanish, from Nahuatl copalli, resin.]


 
 

Resin of natural origin used in varnishes to provide gloss and hardness.


 

[Ma]

Incense made from resin used extensively during religious ceremonies in Mesoamerica from Maya times through to the present day.

 
WordNet: copal
Note: click on a word meaning below to see its connections and related words.

The noun has one meaning:

Meaning #1: a brittle aromatic resin used in varnishes


 
Wikipedia: copal
a copal with few termites
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a copal with few termites

Copal is a type of resin produced by plant or tree secretions, particularly identified with the forms of aromatic tree resins used by the cultures of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica as a ceremonially burned incense, as well as for a number of other purposes.[1] More generically, the term copal is now also used to describe resinous substances in an intermediate stage of polymerization and hardening between more viscous and 'gummy' resins and amber.[2] The word copal is derived from the Nahuatl language word copalli, meaning "incense". To the pre-Columbian Maya and contemporary Maya peoples it is known in the various Mayan languages as pom (or a close variation thereof), although the word itself has been demonstrated to be a loanword to Mayan from (proto-)Mixe-Zoquean languages.

It is sometimes likened to, or substituted for, amber and put in jewellery.

Copal is still used by a number of indigenous peoples of Mexico and Central America as an incense, used during cermonies such as the "sweat lodge" ceremony. It is available in different forms. The hard, amber-like yellow copal is a less expensive version. The white copal, a hard, milky, sticky substance, is a more expensive version of the same resin.

Notes

  1. ^ Stross (1997).
  2. ^ Platt (1998).

References

  • Stross, Brian (1997). "Mesoamerican Copal Resins", in in Carolyn Jones and Tom Jones (Eds.): U Mut Maya VI (online reproduction), Arcata, CA: Humboldt State University, pp.177–186. 

 
 

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Copyrights:

Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2007. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Architecture. McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Architecture and Construction. Copyright © 2003 by McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
Archaeology Dictionary. The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology. Copyright © 2002, 2003 by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.  Read more
WordNet. WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Copal" Read more

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