calamus

American  

[kal-uh-muhs] / ˈkæl ə məs /

noun

calami plural

1. the sweet flag, Acorus calamus.

2. its aromatic root.

3. any of various tropical Asian palms of the genus Calamus, some of which are a source of rattan.

4. the hollow base of a feather; a quill.

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calamus British  

/ ˈkæləməs /

noun

1. any tropical Asian palm of the genus Calamus, some species of which are a source of rattan and canes

2. another name for sweet flag

3. the aromatic root of the sweet flag

4. ornithol the basal hollow shaft of a feather; quill

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• calami
  plural

Etymology

Origin of calamus

1350–1400; Middle English < Latin < Greek kálamos reed, stalk

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

calamus calami

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

These feathers are specially interesting, inasmuch as they retain throughout life a stage corresponding to that seen in the very young cassowary, the calamus being greatly swollen, and supporting a very degenerate rhachis and vane.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 10, Slice 2 "Fairbanks, Erastus" to "Fens" by Various

Cane, kān, n. the stem of one of the smaller palms—the calamus or rattan, or the larger grasses—bamboo and sugar-cane: a walking-stick.—v.t. to beat with a cane.—ns.

From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 1 of 4: A-D) by Various

“Bouillon’s war”: the crusade of Godfrey de Bouillon.—Act ii., “sweet cane”: Acorus calamus.

From The Browning Cyclop?dia A Guide to the Study of the Works of Robert Browning by Berdoe, Edward

The outside of the raw calamus is smooth and is made into commercial cane used for chairs.

From Construction Work for Rural and Elementary Schools by McGaw, Virginia

We omit translation of the words ”los seis,” “the six,” as being apparently a lapsus calami.

From The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898 — Volume 18 of 55 1617-1620 Explorations by Early Navigators, Descriptions of the Islands and Their Peoples, Their History and Records of the Catholic Missions, as Related in Contemporaneous Books and Manuscripts, Showing the Political, Economic, Commercial and Religious Conditions of Those Islands from Their Earliest Relations with European Nations to the Close of the Nineteenth Century by Robertson, James Alexander

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)

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)

This contains "oleum calami," and the bitter principle "acorin."

From Herbal Simples Approved for Modern Uses of Cure by Fernie, William Thomas

It can, therefore, have been a mere lapsus calami on her part, as this eminently sensible woman was incapable of the silly weakness of concealing her age.

From Maria Edgeworth by Zimmern, Helen

Related Words

• fringe
• plume