I am reading a book set in India, and the word ‘oud’ is used to describe a substance used for fragrance inside a house. Is it from a plant? Is it related to the musical instrument?
Oud is one name for a fragrance derived from an evergreen tree called Aquilaria, also known as aloeswood, aloes, eaglewood, or the Wood of the Gods. There are a number of species, and several are listed as threatened or endangered (primarily because of overharvesting to meet high demand). The tree is called agar in Hindi (agarbati, the word for incense, means ‘lighted aloeswood’). Small chips of the wood are burned to release the resinous aroma, and have the added benefit of repelling mosquitos. The resin can also be processed into an essential oil. The fragrance has been used (in ritual and as a sign of status) since as far back in time as 1400 B.C.E., in Egypt, Mesopotamia, Greece, Rome, China, and India. It is mentioned in the Hebrew Song of Songs and Psalms, in ancient Indian Vedas, in the Materia Medica of Dioscorides (65 C.E.), and Buddhist and Islamic texts.
Stress or damage to the tree is the reason the wood is so aromatic. According to Elise Pearlstine’s Scent: A Natural History of Perfume (Yale University, 2022), “they are not important timber trees […] but sometimes a tiny invading fungus, a small injury, or perhaps a boring insect sets in motion a mysterious protective process that produces a dark and aromatic resinous feathered pattern within the living wood.”
The word ‘oud literally means wood, and it is also the source of the name of the wooden stringed instrument. In fact, the English word lute and its European variants are also derived from ‘oud, by combining the Arabic definite article al with ‘oud.