"But here, where earth spreads wider, ye shall claim
Realms by the ruddy dye-wood made renowned;
These of the 'Sacred Cross' shall win the name,
By your first navy shall that world be found."
'The medieval forms of brazil were many; in Italian, it is generally verzi, verzino, or the like.'—Yule, Hobson-Jobson, p. 86.
Again—'Sappan, the wood of Cæsalpinia sappan; the baqqam of the Arabs, and the Brazil-wood of medieval commerce. The tree appears to be indigenous in Malabar, the Deccan, and the Malay peninsula.'—id. p. 600. And in Yule's edition of Marco Polo, ii. 315, he tells us that 'it is extensively used by native dyers, chiefly for common and cheap
cloths, and for fine mats. The dye is precipitated dark-brown with iron, and red with alum.'
Cf. Way's note on the word in the Prompt. Parv. p. 47.
Florio explains Ital. verzino as 'brazell woode, or fernanbucke [Pernambuco] to dye red withall.'
The etymology is disputed, but I think brasil and Ital. verzino are alike due to the Pers. wars, saffron; cf. Arab. warīs, dyed with saffron or wars.