Definition of Cassia

1. Noun. Any of various trees or shrubs of the genus Cassia having pinnately compound leaves and usually yellow flowers followed by long seedpods.


2. Noun. Some genus Cassia species often classified as members of the genus Senna or genus Chamaecrista.
Exact synonyms: Genus Cassia
Generic synonyms: Rosid Dicot Genus
Group relationships: Caesalpinioideae, Subfamily Caesalpinioideae

3. Noun. Chinese tree with aromatic bark; yields a less desirable cinnamon than Ceylon cinnamon.
Exact synonyms: Cassia-bark Tree, Cinnamomum Cassia
Generic synonyms: Laurel
Group relationships: Cinnamomum, Genus Cinnamomum
Terms within: Cassia Bark, Chinese Cinnamon

Definition of Cassia

1. n. A genus of leguminous plants (herbs, shrubs, or trees) of many species, most of which have purgative qualities. The leaves of several species furnish the senna used in medicine.

Definition of Cassia

1. Noun. Any of several tropical leguminous plants, of the genus ''Cassia'', used medicinally as senna. ¹

2. Noun. A spice (similar to cinnamon) made from the bark of the Chinese cinnamon, ''Cinnamomum aromaticum''. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Cassia

1. a variety of cinnamon [n -S]

Medical Definition of Cassia

1. Leguminous plants cassia senna l. (or c. Acutifolia) and c. Angustifolia that contain anthraquinones which are used as laxatives. (12 Dec 1998)

Literary usage of Cassia

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. Publication by Field Museum of Natural History (1902)
"[cassia obtusifolia L. Eggers Fl. 256.] 370. cassia OCCIDENTALS L. "Stinking Weed." Frequent in waste pasture lands. The seeds are used as a substitute for ..."

2. Medical Lexicon: A Dictionary of Medical Science : Containing a Concise by Robley Dunglison (1868)
"The leaves of this plant are similar, in virtue, to those of cassia senna. ... It is yielded, however, by several species of the genus cassia. ..."

3. Pharmaceutical Journal by Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain (1852)
"Loaded with thousands of long pendulous fruit reaching to the earth, the cassia trees at this period present a most interesting appearance, reminding one by ..."

4. Science Papers: Chiefly Pharmacological and Botanical by Daniel Hanbury (1876)
"Many years since, M. Henry, of Paris, published a notice of a sort of cassia which had been imported from America, and had then newly appeared in French ..."

5. Hortus Kewensis; Or, A Catalogue of the Plants Cultivated in the Royal by William Aiton (1811)
"Four- leaved cassia. Nat. of Egypt and the East Indies. Introd. 1777, by Patrick Russel, ... cassia, or Wild Senna. Nat. of the East Indies. Cult. ..."

Other Resources:

Search for Cassia on Dictionary.com!Search for Cassia on Thesaurus.com!Search for Cassia on Google!Search for Cassia on Wikipedia!

Search