Definition of Sassafras

1. Noun. Yellowwood tree with brittle wood and aromatic leaves and bark; source of sassafras oil; widely distributed in eastern North America.

Exact synonyms: Sassafras Albidum, Sassafras Tree
Generic synonyms: Laurel
Group relationships: Genus Sassafras
Terms within: Sassafras Oil

2. Noun. Dried root bark of the sassafras tree.

Definition of Sassafras

1. n. An American tree of the Laurel family (Sassafras officinale); also, the bark of the roots, which has an aromatic smell and taste.

Definition of Sassafras

1. Noun. A tree of species Sassafras albidum of the eastern United States and Asia having mitten-shaped leaves and red, aromatic heartwood. ¹

2. Noun. A tree of any species in the genus Sassafras. ¹

3. Noun. The bark of the root of this plant, used for medicinal and (mostly historically) culinary purposes and formerly a main ingredient in root beer. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Sassafras

1. [n -ES]

Medical Definition of Sassafras

1. An American tree of the Laurel family (Sassafras officinale); also, the bark of the roots, which has an aromatic smell and taste. Australian sassafras, a lofty tree (Doryophora Sassafras) with aromatic bark and leaves. Chilian sassafras, an aromatic tree (Laurelia sempervirens). New Zealand sassafras, a similar tree (Laurelia Novae Zelandiae). Sassafras nut. See Pichurim bean. Swamp sassafras, the sweet bay (Magnolia glauca). See Magnolia. Origin: F. Sassafras (cf. It. Sassafrasso, sassafras, Sp. Sasafras, salsafras, salsifrax, salsifragia, saxifragia), fr. L. Saxifraga saxofrage. See Saxifrage. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Sassafras

sasin
sasine
sasines
sasins
saskatchewan
saskatoon
saskatoons
sasparilla
sasparillas
sasquatch
sasquatches

Literary usage of Sassafras

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

1. Botanical Gazette by University of Chicago, JSTOR (Organization) (1906)
"(WITH NINE FIGURES) THE common sassafras occupies a somewhat isolated position among northern trees. It is not only the single living representative of the ..."

2. Pharmacographia; a History of the Principal Drugs of Vegetable Origin, Met by Friedrich August Flückiger, Daniel Hanbury (1879)
"sassafras Root; F. Bois de sassafras, Lignum sassafras; Botanical Origin—sassafras ... Description—sassafras is imported in large branching logs, ..."

3. The American Cyclopaedia: A Popular Dictionary of General Knowledge edited by George Ripley, Charles Anderson Dana (1883)
"sassafras officinale—Leaves, Flowers, and Fruit. sharp angle with the branches. The bark on young branches is reddish green, and on old trunks reddish ash ..."

4. A Manual of the Medical Botany of North America by Laurence Johnson (1884)
"The bark of the root—official name, sassafras ; the pith of the young branches—official ... sassafras is an aromatic stimulant. Its chief use is, however, ..."

5. Hand-book of Chemistry by Leopold Gmelin, Henry Watts (1860)
"In oil of sassafras. Rectified oil of sassafras is cooled by an ... It has an odour of sassafras, and tastes at first sweetish and warm, afterwards burning. ..."

6. A Manual of Materia Medica and Pharmacology: Comprising All Organic and by David Marvel Reynolds Culbreth (1917)
"sassafras. The bark of the root, with not more than sassafras ... Saloop, Ague Tree, Cinnamon Wood; sassafras (Cortex) Radix; ..."

7. The Tree Book: A Popular Guide to a Knowledge of the Trees of North America by Julia Ellen Rogers (1905)
"Genus sassafras, Nees. (S. sassafras) sassafras The laurel family has forty genera, most of them tropical. Of the six North American genera, ..."

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