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calamus

more about calamus

calamus

 

  4  definitions  found 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Calamus  \Cal"a*mus\,  n.;  pl  {Calami}.  [L.,  a  reed.  See  {Halm}.] 
  1.  (Bot.)  The  indian  cane,  a  plant  of  the  Palm  family.  It 
  furnishes  the  common  rattan.  See  {Rattan},  and  {Dragon's 
  blood}. 
 
  2.  (Bot.)  A  species  of  {Acorus}  ({A.  calamus}),  commonly 
  called  {calamus},  or  {sweet  flag}.  The  root  has  a  pungent, 
  aromatic  taste,  and  is  used  in  medicine  as  a  stomachic; 
  the  leaves  have  an  aromatic  odor,  and  were  formerly  used 
  instead  of  rushes  to  strew  on  floors. 
 
  3.  (Zo["o]l.)  The  horny  basal  portion  of  a  feather;  the 
  barrel  or  quill. 
 
  From  WordNet  r  1.6  [wn]: 
 
  calamus 
  n  1:  any  tropical  Asian  palm  of  the  genus  Calamus;  light  tough 
  stems  are  a  source  of  rattan  canes 
  2:  the  aromatic  root  of  the  sweet  flag  used  medicinally 
  3:  perennial  marsh  plant  having  swordlike  leaves  and  aromatic 
  roots  [syn:  {sweet  flag},  {sweet  calamus},  {myrtle  flag}, 
  {flagroot},  {Acorus  calamus}] 
  4:  a  genus  of  Sparidae  [syn:  {Calamus},  {genus  Calamus}] 
  5:  the  hollow  shaft  of  a  feather  [syn:  {quill},  {shaft}] 
 
  From  U.S.  Gazetteer  (1990)  [gazetteer]: 
 
  Calamus,  IA  (city,  FIPS  9820) 
  Location:  41.82665  N,  90.75967  W 
  Population  (1990):  379  (170  housing  units) 
  Area:  1.3  sq  km  (land),  0.0  sq  km  (water) 
  Zip  code(s):  52729 
 
  From  Easton's  1897  Bible  Dictionary  [easton]: 
 
  Calamus 
  the  Latin  for  cane,  Hebrew  _Kaneh_,  mentioned  (Ex.  30:23)  as  one 
  of  the  ingredients  in  the  holy  anointing  oil,  one  of  the  sweet 
  scents  (Cant.  4:14),  and  among  the  articles  sold  in  the  markets 
  of  Tyre  (Ezek.  27:19).  The  word  designates  an  Oriental  plant 
  called  the  "sweet  flag,"  the  Acorus  calamus  of  Linnaeus.  It  is 
  elsewhere  called  "sweet  cane"  (Isa.  43:24;  Jer.  6:20).  It  has  an 
  aromatic  smell,  and  when  its  knotted  stalk  is  cut  and  dried  and 
  reduced  to  powder,  it  forms  an  ingredient  in  the  most  precious 
  perfumes.  It  was  not  a  native  of  Palestine,  but  was  imported 
  from  Arabia  Felix  or  from  India.  It  was  probably  that  which  is 
  now  known  in  India  by  the  name  of  "lemon  grass"  or  "ginger 
  grass,"  the  Andropogon  schoenanthus  (See  {CANE}.)




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