What Is Oud? Agarwood Explained

If you’ve ever asked “what actually is oud?” and got an answer that was more poetry than substance, this is the one that just answers the question.

Oud — also spelt oudh, and known in English as agarwood or aloeswood — is a dark, dense, resin-soaked wood, and the oil distilled from it. It comes from trees of the genus Aquilaria, native to the forests of South and Southeast Asia, including Assam in India, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. In its ordinary state, an Aquilaria tree is pale, soft and has almost no smell at all. Oud is what happens when that changes.

Where the name comes from

“Oud” comes from the Arabic عود, meaning simply “wood.” It travelled into English via centuries of trade between Arabia and South/Southeast Asia — long before modern perfumery existed, agarwood was already moving along the same routes as spices and silk. “Oudh” and “oud” are the same word, just transliterated slightly differently; both are correct.

Oud, agarwood and aloeswood — same thing?

Close enough for everyday use, with one useful distinction. “Agarwood” (or aloeswood) properly refers to the resin-infused wood itself — the chips you’d burn as incense. “Oud” is used more broadly for the wood and, especially in perfumery, for the oil distilled from it (dahn al oud). If someone says “I’m wearing oud,” they almost always mean the oil or a fragrance built around it.

Why oud only exists in some trees

This is the detail that explains everything else about oud: agarwood only forms when a tree is wounded and then infected by a specific mould. The tree responds by producing a dark, fragrant resin to seal the damage — much like a scar. Left uninjured and uninfected, an Aquilaria tree never produces oud at all. That single fact is why oud is rare, why it’s regionally variable, and why it commands the prices it does.

What oud is used for

Perfume oil (dahn al oud) — the most concentrated, prized form, worn directly on the skin.
Bakhoor and incense — chips or blocks burned on charcoal to scent homes, clothing and gatherings.
Perfumery generally — as a base note in countless Arabian and Western fragrances, alone or blended with rose, saffron, amber and musk.