arborvitae

[ ahr-ber-vahy-tee ]

noun

1. any of several ornamental or timber-producing evergreen trees belonging to the genus Thuja, of the cypress family, native to North America and eastern Asia, having a scaly bark and scalelike leaves on branchlets.
2. Anatomy. arbor vitae.

Word History and Origins

Origin of arborvitae¹

1655–65 arborvitae fordef 1; 1790–1800 arborvitae fordef 2; < Latin: tree of life

Example Sentences

Some of their most favorable plants are narrowed-leafed evergreen, like arborvitae and fir.

From Popular-Science

People who crave quick evergreen screening seem to be turning less to the problem-prone Leyland cypress in favor of the arborvitae Green Giant, a better plant but suffering now from overuse.

From Washington Post