Akademik

any of several Asian and North American conifers of the genera Thuja and Thujopsis

↑western red cedar, ↑red cedar, ↑canoe cedar, ↑Thuja plicata, ↑American arborvitae, ↑northern white cedar, ↑white cedar, ↑Thuja occidentalis, ↑Oriental arborvitae, ↑Thuja orientalis, ↑Platycladus orientalis, ↑hiba arborvitae, ↑Thujopsis dolobrata

1. : a tree or shrub of the genus Thuja or the closely related Thujopsis — see american arborvitae, oriental arborvitae; tree illustration

2. : any of several plants of the genus Libocedrus

3. usually arbor vitae : a treelike structure or arrangement (as of nervous tissue in the cerebellum)

/ahr'beuhr vuy"tee/, n.

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. Anat. See arbor vitae.

[1655-65 for def. 1; 1790-1800 for def. 2; < L: tree of life]