‖ arbor vitæ
(ˌɑːbɔː ˈvaɪtiː)
[L.; = tree of life.]
1. Bot. Popular name of several evergreen shrubs of the genus Thuja, family Coniferæ.
| 1664 Evelyn Silva (1812) II. 40 This tree [Thuya] by some called Arbor Vitæ..is of a hardy green all the winter. 1860 Ruskin Mod. Paint. V. vi. ix. §2 In some ambiguous trees (as the arbor vitæ) there is no proper stem to the outer leaves. |
2. Phys. The arborescent appearance of a longitudinal section of the cerebellum.
| 1800 Carlisle in Phil. Trans. XCI. 142 The intermixture of the cortical and medullary substances form the appearance called Arbor vitæ. 1880 in Syd. Soc. Lex. |