Bot. Also ailante, and corruptly ailanthus. [f. Aylanto, the native Amboyna name, said to mean ‘Tree of the gods,’ or ‘of heaven,’ whence mod.L. Ailantus (in English often corrupted to Ailanthus, as if the termination contained Gr. ἄνθος flower), Fr. ailante.] A large East Indian tree (N. O. Simarubaceae or Xanthoxylaceæ), grown in S. Europe for ornament and shade, the pinnated leaves of which are the favorite food of a species of silk-worm. ‘The name “Japan Varnish” seems to have been applied to it through some mistake.’
1845. Hirst, Poems, 158. O’er me let a green Ailanthus grow … the Tree of Heaven.
1861. Times, 23 July, 10/1. This silkworm lives in the open air on a very hardy plant called the ‘ailante,’ or Japan varnish tree.
1866. C. A. Johns, in Treas. Bot., 32. Ailantus, the Versis du Japon of the French … is in its native countries, China and India, called Ailanto. Its German name Götterbaum is said to be a translation of Ailanto.
1878. Black, Green Past. & Picc., xxx. 240. The acacia-looking ailanthus along the pavements.
