quassia Hear it!

quassia definition

quas·sia (kwäs̸h′ə, -ē ə; kwäs′ē ə)

noun

  1. any of a genus (Quassia) of shrubs and trees of the quassia family
  2. the wood of either of two tropical trees (Picrasma excela or Quassia amara) of the quassia family, used in making furniture
  3. a bitter drug extracted from this wood, used in insecticides and, formerly, in medicine

Etymology: ModL, after Graman Quassi, black slave of Suriname who prescribed it for fever, c. 1730

adjective

designating a family (Simaroubaceae, order Sapindales) of tropical American dicotyledonous shrubs and trees having alternate pinnate leaves, including ailanthus

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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