tolu

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

noun aromatic yellowish brown balsam from the tolu balsam tree used especially in cough syrups

From Spanish Tolú (“town in Colombia where the tree is found”), from tolúes (“name of a pre-Columbian people of the area”).

Rubber, copaiba, tolu, and vegetable ivory[59] are gathered by Indians from the forests. — Commercial Geography: A Book for High Schools, Commercial Courses, and Business Colleges, Jacques W. (Jacques Wardlaw) Redway
Hilbrough, in the nursery, had found the youngest little girl suffering with a slight cold,--nothing more than a case of infantile sniffles,--but Hilbrough's affection had magnified it into incipient croup or pneumonia, and, after a fruitless search for the vial of tolu and squills, he dispatched the maid to call Mrs. Hilbrough. — The Faith Doctor: A Story of New York, Edward Eggleston

balsam of tolu, tolu balsam

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