quassia

[ kwosh-uh, -ee-uh ]

noun
  1. a shrub or small tree, Quassia amara, of tropical America, having pinnate leaves, showy red flowers, and wood with a bitter taste.: Compare quassia family.

  2. any of several other trees having bitter-tasting wood.

  1. Also called bitterwood. Chemistry, Pharmacology. a prepared form of the heartwood of any of these trees, used as an insecticide and in medicine as a tonic to dispel intestinal worms.

Origin of quassia

1
First recorded in 1775–80; from New Latin, named after Quassi, an 18th-century enslaved healer in the Dutch colony of Suriname who discovered its medicinal properties; see -ia

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British Dictionary definitions for quassia

quassia

/ (ˈkwɒʃə) /


noun
  1. any tree of the tropical American simaroubaceous genus Quassia, having bitter bark and wood

  2. the bark and wood of Quassia amara and of a related tree, Picrasma excelsa, used in furniture making

  1. a bitter compound extracted from this bark and wood, formerly used as a tonic and anthelmintic, now used in insecticides

Origin of quassia

1
C18: from New Latin, named after Graman Quassi, a slave who discovered (1730) the medicinal value of the root

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