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 rattan is the stem of a creeping prickly palm, the scientific name of which is the calamus.
From The Last Voyage to India and Australia, in the 'Sunbeam' by Pritchett, R. T. (Robert Taylor)
Away! gold of Arabia, Myrrh, calamus, and cassia, Far better I discover!
From Paul Gerhardt's Spiritual Songs Translated by John Kelly by Gerhardt, Paul
Herophilus made many anatomical discoveries, and some of the names he gave to parts of the body are now in use, for instance, torcular Herophili, calamus scriptorius, and duodenum.
From Outlines of Greek and Roman Medicine by Elliott, James Sands
Along the centre of the floor is the median furrow, which terminates below in a pen-shaped form, the so-called calamus scriptorius.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 4, Slice 4 "Bradford, William" to "Brequigny, Louis" by Various
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
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
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)
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
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.
