calamus
Americannoun
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the sweet flag, Acorus calamus.
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its aromatic root.
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any of various tropical Asian palms of the genus Calamus, some of which are a source of rattan.
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the hollow base of a feather; a quill.
noun
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any tropical Asian palm of the genus Calamus, some species of which are a source of rattan and canes
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another name for sweet flag
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the aromatic root of the sweet flag
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ornithol the basal hollow shaft of a feather; quill
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of calamus
1350–1400; Middle English < Latin < Greek kálamos reed, stalk
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
In the garden grow "an orchard of pomegranates . . . spikenard and saffron; calamus and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense".
From The Guardian ● Jan. 29, 2011
The cinnabaris indica, mentioned by Pliny and Dioscorides, was what is vulgarly called dragon's blood, the resin obtained from various species of the calamus palm.
From Museum of Antiquity A Description of Ancient Life by Haines, T. L. (Thomas Louis)
Calumet is an Old Norman word for chalumeau, reed, pipe, a diminutive from Lat. calamus.
From The Romance of Words (4th ed.) by Weekley, Ernest
The scummy pond sleeps lazily, Clad thick with lilies, and the bee Reels boisterous as a Bassarid Above the bloated green frog hid In lush wan calamus and grass, Beside the water's stagnant glass.
From Blooms of the Berry by Cawein, Madison J.
Garlic, calamus aromaticus, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg, each, 1 drachm.
From The Art of Perfumery And Methods of Obtaining the Odors of Plants by Piesse, George William Septimus
He could hardly have known of the two G's, from the sound; but the omission of the cross-bar from the one that was de rigueur was certainly a lapsus calami, and a serious one.
From When Ghost Meets Ghost by De Morgan, William Frend
This contains "oleum calami," and the bitter principle "acorin."
From Herbal Simples Approved for Modern Uses of Cure by Fernie, William Thomas
In providing copy for a work of six volumes, each of about 1000 pages, it was but natural that lapsus calami should occur from time to time.
From My Autobiography A Fragment by Müller, F. Max (Friedrich Max)
The artist is a sort of impassioned proof-reader, blue-pencilling the lapsus calami of God.
From Damn! A Book of Calumny by Mencken, H. L. (Henry Louis)
This should be Fort Clark, not Fort Leavenworth—an evident lapsus calami.
From Travels in the Interior of North America, Part I, (Being Chapters I-XV of the London Edition, 1843) Early Western Travels, 1748-1846, Volume XXII by Maximilian, Alexander Philipp
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
