chittim

English

Etymology 1

From Hebrew שִׁטִּים, plural of שִׁטָּה, with the spelling change from shittim perhaps chosen to avoid any association with shit.

Noun

chittim (countable and uncountable, plural chittims)

1. A type of wood mentioned in the Bible, from which the Ark of the Covenant was constructed.

   Synonyms: shittah, shittimwood

   • 1835, Robert Folkestone Williams, An historical sketch of the art of sculpture in wood, page 8:

     The knowledge of this fact induced the Deity to command the Israelites to "make no idols nor graven image; neither rear you up a standing image:" but He afterwards made them bring their skill into operation by creating for His worship the ark of the covenant, of chittim wood, and the mercy seat, with cherubims of gold — and appointed to design the work Bezaleel, the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, who was skilled to devise cunning works, to work in gold and in silver, and in brass; and in the cutting of stones to set them; and in carving of timber, to work in all manner of workmanship.

   • 1882, Edward Henry Knight, Knight's American Mechanical Dictionary:

     These dowels appear to be of tamarisk, or chittim-wood, of which the ark is said to have been constructed, — a sacred tree in ancient Egypt, and now very rarely found in the valley of the Nile.

   • 1997, Jennie Wood Sheldon, Sarah A. Laird, Medicinal Plants: Can Utilization and Conservation Coexist?, page 44:

     It has been suggested that it was called "sacred (or holy) bark" because the early missionaries mistook it for "chittim wood" which is mentioned in the bible.

2. A cascara tree, of species Rhamnus purshiana.
   • 1907, The Country Gentleman, volume 72, Part 2, page 719:

     Owing to the low price offered for chittims bark the amount peeled in Oregon and Washington this year is limited.

   • 2011, Dan Oliver, The Dust of Old Dole Road: From Poverty to Peace, page 134:

     We peeled "chittim" bark, on and off for at least thee years through the summers of my fourth, fifth, and sixth grades.

3. A yellow cottonwood tree, of species Populus deltoides.
   • 1890, The American Monthly Microscopical Journal, volumes 11-12, page 53:

     The most superficial observer of lumber knows that there is generally a considerable difference between the wood of trees belonging to different species. Sometimes it is quite small, so that lumbermen have no constitutional objection to working off short leaf for long leaf yellow pine, hemlock for white pine, chittim wood, or yellow cottonwood for poplar and red birch for cherry, if it can be done without detection.

   • 1904, The American Historical Magazine and Tennessee Historical Society Quarterly, volume 9, page 11:

     This was the chittim wood, otherwise called yellow wood, a very ornamental tree and one of the prettiest in the forests of the State.

4. A false buckthorn tree or shrub, of species Bumelia Lanuginosa.
   • 1908, Circular - Oklahoma Geological Survey, numbers 1-8, page 53:

     This family is represented in our range by only one species. chittim-wood, the woody buckthorn (Bumelia launginosa).

   • 1964, John Hendrix, If I Can Do It Horseback: A Cow-Country Sketchbook, page 40:

     This consisted of a two-room house built of chittim poles, with no floor, a thatched roof of tules, and a windbreak of buffalo and cowhides to the north of it.

Etymology 2

Noun

chittim (countable and uncountable, plural chittims)

1. A Nigerian currency.
   • 1898, Children's Missionary Magazine of the United Presbyterian Church:

     Louisa brought four chittims (about a halfpenny).

   • 1909, Beatrice W. Welsh, An African Girl: The Story of Ma Eno, page 53:

     Eno whispered to her to take chittims and pay for her nuts.

   • 1990, Stella Attoe, A Federation of the Biase People:

     It is also on record that brass rods (worth 6d each) and chittims (worth ¼d each) were used in Efik, Uruan, Oron and the Cross River countries during this period.