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

The instrument used for writing was a reed, sharpened and split at the point, like our pens, called calamus.

From Roman Antiquities, and Ancient Mythology For Classical Schools (2nd ed) by Dillaway, Charles K.

Here also grew camphor, with spikenard, and saffron, calamus, and cinnamon, with all its trees of frankincense, myrrh, and aloes, with all chief spices.

From A Book of English Prose Part II, Arranged for Secondary and High Schools by Lubbock, Percy

It is recognized by converging fibres which look like a pen, and are therefore called the calamus scriptorius, or writer’s pen.

From Buchanan's Journal of Man, May 1887 Volume 1, Number 4 by Buchanan, Joseph R. (Joseph Rodes)

Dan also and Javan going to and fro occupied in thy fairs: bright iron, cassia, and calamus, were in thy market.

From The Prophet Ezekiel An Analytical Exposition by Gaebelein, Arno C.

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

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

I think this must have been a lapsus calami on Voltaire's part, because it is unlikely that he would have invented such a story.

From The Koran (Al-Qur'an) by Sale, George

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

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

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

Related Words

• fringe
• plume