xylo-

Wood.

Greek xulon, wood.

A xylophone is a musical instrument played by striking wooden bars with hammers; xylem is the tissue in plants which conducts water upwards from the root and also helps to form the woody element in the stem; something xylophagous, such as an insect larva or mollusc, feeds on or bores into wood; xylene is a volatile liquid hydrocarbon obtained by distilling wood, coal tar, or petroleum; xylose is a five-carbon sugar found in plants, sometimes called wood sugar. See also ligno‑.