Teak
/tiːk/noun
A hard, durable tropical hardwood from trees in the genus Tectona.
Did you know?The English word teak ultimately comes from a South Indian Dravidian source word for the tree, and its rise in European use is tied to colonial trade in timber so durable it became legendary for shipbuilding.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Dravidian
PDrav
*tekku / *teku
“A teak tree or teak wood.”
Tamil / Malayalam
Dravidian
tekku
“Teak tree; teak wood.”
17th–18th Century
Portuguese
teca
“Teak; the timber of the teak tree.”
18th Century
Dutch
tek
“Teak wood.”
18th Century
English
teak
“The durable wood of the teak tree.”