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