Definitions for quassiaˈkwɒʃ ə, -i ə

ADVERTISEMENT

Random House Webster's College Dictionary

quas•siaˈkwɒʃ ə, -i ə(n.)(pl.)-sias.

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

    Category: Botany, Plants

  2. a prepared form of the wood of any of several trees of the genus Quassia, used as an insecticide or to dispel intestinal worms.

    Category: Pesticides, Pharmacology

Origin of quassia:

1755–65; < NL, after Quassi, 18th-cent. slave in Dutch Guiana who discovered its medicinal properties

Princeton's WordNet

  1. quassia(noun)

    a bitter compound used as an insecticide and tonic and vermifuge; extracted from the wood and bark of trees of the genera Quassia and Picrasma

  2. quassia, bitterwood, Quassia amara(noun)

    handsome South American shrub or small tree having bright scarlet flowers and yielding a valuable fine-grained yellowish wood; yields the bitter drug quassia from its wood and bark

Wiktionary

  1. quassia(Noun)

    Any of several tropic trees, of the genus Quassia, having scarlet flowers

  2. quassia(Noun)

    The bitter substance quassin extracted from its bark

Webster Dictionary

  1. Quassia(noun)

    the wood of several tropical American trees of the order Simarubeae, as Quassia amara, Picraena excelsa, and Simaruba amara. It is intensely bitter, and is used in medicine and sometimes as a substitute for hops in making beer

U.S. National Library of Medicine

  1. Quassia

    A plant genus of the family SIMAROUBACEAE. Members contain quassinoids. Quassia simarouba has been reclassified as SIMAROUBA.


Citation

Use the citation below to add this definition to your bibliography:

Style:MLAChicagoAPA

"quassia." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2013. Web. 19 Jun 2013. <http://www.definitions.net/definition/quassia>.


The Web's Largest Resource for

Definitions & Translations


A Member Of The STANDS4 Network


Nearby & related entries:

Alternative searches for quassia: