USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -The term for the brazilwood tree in Portuguese, pau-brasil, is formed by pau ("wood") and brasa ("ember"), the latter referring to the vivid red dye that can be extracted from the tree. The word brasa is formed from Old French brese ("ember, glowing charcoal").

Detailed explanation-2: -So pau brasil is translated into English as the Brazil tree. According to some historians, this common name was adopted from the plant as the name of the country, the largest and most biodiverse in South America.

Detailed explanation-3: -The etymology of the word is obscure. Some defend that it derives from Celtic and Gaelic languages meaning “grandeur” or “beauty", and others maintain that it comes from the Latin brasas meaning “flames". Others say the word evokes an old Irish clan.

Detailed explanation-4: -It was used as a dye medicine, and its wood would be used in crafting items, such as furniture, cabinets, boxes, carriages, ships’ keels, and to make bows for instruments. Brazilwood was also very important to the Portuguese because they could use it as currency in trade with Indian traders.

Detailed explanation-5: -The abundant gold and diamonds, mined by enslaved individuals, allowed wealth, trade, and artistic production to flourish in the entire Portuguese empire throughout the eighteenth century. As the closest port to the mining region, Rio de Janeiro was named Brazil’s new capital city in 1763.