cassian.1
1.
a. An inferior kind of cinnamon, esp. the bark obtained from Cinnamomum Cassia; thicker, coarser, less delicate in flavour, and cheaper than the true cinnamon. More fully cassia-bark.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > additive > spice > [noun] > cinnamon or cassia
cassiac1000
cannelc1275
cassia ligneaa1398
cinnamonc1430
diacassia1671
canella1693
clove-bark1697
white cinnamon1751
cassia-buds1851
c1000 Ags. Ps. xliv. 10 [xlv. 8] Myrre, and gutta, and cassia dropiað of þinum claðum.
1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) Exod. xxx. 24 Tak to thee swete smellynge thingis..of chasee [a1425 L.V. casia] fyve hundryd sicles.
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) II. xvii. xxviii. 927 Þough me vse to wryte and to sowne cassia wiþ double s, ȝit it schulde be wryte and sowned wiþ oo sengle s. And so me scholde write..casia and nouȝt cassia.
1553 R. Eden tr. S. Münster Treat. Newe India sig. Bvjv Spyces..as ginger, pepper, mirabolanes, Cardamome, Cassia.
1611 Bible (King James) Psalms xlv. 8 All thy garments smell of myrrhe, and aloes, and cassia . View more context for this quotation
1626 F. Bacon Sylua Syluarum §620 Cassia, which is now the substitute of Cinnamon.
1693 T. P. Blount Nat. Hist. 41 You may call the thicker Bark Cassia, and the thinner Cinnamon.
1871 tr. H. Schellen Spectrum Anal. §41. 162 The spectrum..obtained from oil of cassia.
b. Also distinguished from sense 4, as cassia lignea.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > additive > spice > [noun] > cinnamon or cassia
cassiac1000
cannelc1275
cassia ligneaa1398
cinnamonc1430
diacassia1671
canella1693
clove-bark1697
white cinnamon1751
cassia-buds1851
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) II. xvii. xxvii. 926 Platearius and Dyas..spekeþ of tweie maner cassia: þat oon is cleped cassia fistula, and þe oþer cassia lignea, þat is þe rynde of a litel tree.
1705 London Gaz. No. 4146/4 Fine Cinnamon 12 Bales, Ordinary Cinnamon or Cassia Ligna 153 Bales.
1883 Daily News 11 Oct. 2/7 Of 1,600 boxes Cassia Lignea offered.
2. The tree itself, Cinnamomum Cassia.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > medicinal and culinary plants > medicinal and culinary plant or part of plant > [noun] > cinnamon trees
cinnamon1495
cassia1553
xylocassia1555
bastard cinnamon1678
cinnamon-tree1779
canella1836
wild cinnamon1858
1553 R. Eden in tr. S. Münster Treat. Newe India Pref. sig. aaviij A great wood of Precious trees, some of Cinomome & Cassia.
1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny Hist. World I. 373 Casia or Canell, a plant it is, which groweth neer to the plains from whence the Cinamon comes.
1832 E. Lankester Veg. Substances Food 347 Cassia..is a native of..the south of Asia..The bark and buds are known in commerce as cassia lignea and cassia buds.
3. poetic. A fragrant shrub or plant. This is partly a rhetorical use of the word from the Bible (Psalm xlv. 8), partly a reference to the casia of Vergil and Ovid, explained by Lewis and Short as ‘a fragrant, shrub-like plant, mezereon’, thought by some to be Osyris alba Linn., by Prof. Daubeny to be Daphne Gnidium.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > unidentified or variously identified plants > biblical, mythical, or plants of antiquity > [noun]
honeysucklea1387
heath1535
bulbine1548
tragium1567
alimon1572
behen1578
ephemeron1578
spattania1583
cassia1594
anacampserote1601
springwort1862
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > fragrant plants or plants used in perfumery > [noun] > poets' cassia
cassia1594
poet's rosemary1597
poet's cassia1760
1594 T. Lodge & R. Greene Looking Glasse sig. F3 This offering of..mirrhe and Cascia freely I do yeeld.
1616 J. Bullokar Eng. Expositor at Casia Poets understand often by it some sweet-smelling herbe.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost v. 293 Through Groves of Myrrhe, And flouring Odours, Cassia, Nard, and Balme; A Wilderness of sweets. View more context for this quotation
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics iv, in tr. Virgil Wks. 135 Beneath his Body, broken Boughs and Thyme, And pleasing Cassia just renew'd in prime. View more context for this quotation
a1821 J. Keats Epist. 271 And intertwined the cassia's arms unite, With its own drooping buds.
4.
a. Botany. A genus of trees, shrubs, or herbs (family Leguminosæ) distributed in numerous species over the warmer regions of the earth. The leaflets of several species constitute what are known in medicine as Senna leaves. The name cassia fistula was given already in the Middle Ages, to one species, the Pudding Pipe tree, a native of India, but cultivated in Northern Africa, the West Indies, etc., which produces the cassia pods containing a pulp used as a laxative. Thence botanists have extended the name to the genus.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > healing > medicines or physic > medicines for specific purpose > cleansing or expelling medicines > [noun] > purgative > plant-derived
scammonyc1000
lign-aloesc1374
hiera picra1379
rhubarbc1390
aloea1398
cassia fistulaa1398
coloquintidaa1398
senec1400
turpethc1400
coloquintc1420
diagrydium1436
lignum aloes1525
rhabarbarum1533
xylaloes1540
manna1541
scilla1548
hyera?1550
emblic1555
diasenna1562
colocynth1565
tragonce1575
pinyon1577
mechoacan1587
lignum aquilae1600
gamboge1615
dragon-root1621
helleborism1621
diaprune1625
alhandal1630
makinboy1652
luskard1653
diagrydiate1657
physic nut1657
aloetic1661
scammoniate1665
jalap1675
aloedary1683
coloquinto1683
Briançon manna1688
liquorice powder1712
coloquintid1732
castor oil1746
senna-tea1752
higry pigry1773
Turkey rhubarb1789
argel1803
hickery-pickery1816
cathartin1823
aloin1828
croton oil1829
jalapin1832
syrmaea1833
bryonin1836
gambogic acid1837
Podophyllum1844
podophyllin1851
geropiga1852
hicra picra1857
Montpellier turpeth1860
picra1860
tallicoona oil1866
scammonin1868
pharbitisin1873
cascara sagrada1879
senna-draught1879
tambor-oil1890
syrup of figs1897
pharbitin1899
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular medicinal plants or parts > medicinal trees or shrubs > [noun] > non-British medicinal trees or shrubs > pudding-pipe tree
fistulaa1382
cassia fistulaa1398
pudding-pipe tree1597
cassia-stick tree1756
golden shower1882
the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > non-British trees or shrubs > [noun] > cassia or senna
senna1543
sene1580
cassia1688
ringworm bush1756
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) II. xvii. xxviii. 926 Cassia fistula is þe fruyt of a certein tree þat bereþ long seed... Þe mary wiþinne is blak and moyste and swete, and is medlid wiþ certeyn white greynes.
1585 H. Llwyd tr. Pope John XXI Treasury of Health (new ed.) sig. H v Lentyl, roses, Licorise & a lytle of Cassia~fistula.
1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory ii. 97/1 Cassia..the Flowers are yellow, many growing together on a long stalk.
1703 London Gaz. No. 3940/3 Their Cargo's, consisting of..Lignum Vitæ, Molosses, Cashia Fistula, Shruff, etc.
1772 W. Buchan Domest. Med. (ed. 2) xlix. 670 Some manna and pulp of cassia may be dissolved in boiling water.
1866 D. Livingstone Jrnl. I. ix. 235 Cassias and another tree..are now in flower.
b. Any medicinal product obtained from this.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > healing > medicines or physic > medical preparations of specific origin > medicine composed of a plant > [noun] > general plant-derived medicines
savineOE
liquoricec1275
verjuice1302
sandragon1334
sugar roset1363
acaciaa1398
agnus castusa1398
sebestenc1400
socotrine aloesa1425
tapsimelc1425
valencec1425
aconitum?a1450
hypericum1471
cassia1543
guaiacum1553
guaiac1558
butcher's broom1578
solanum1578
liquorice-stick1580
symphonia1597
tabasheer1598
diascord1605
orange-bead1626
oxymel of squills1654
Japonic earth1673
terebinthina1693
terebinthinate1696
pareira brava1698
rhabarbarate1716
Japan earth1718
buglossate1725
squill1725
phytolacca1730
nettle juice1747
xanthoxyloïn1767
mustard whey1769
Jesuits' drops1783
digitalis1785
arnica1788
mel-rose1790
gallic acid1791
valerian1794
sacred elixir1797
drosera1801
Spanish juice1803
mudar1819
sabadilla1821
parillin1825
mudarin1829
salicin1830
sang1843
peppermint camphor1854
pareira1855
savanilla1856
euonymin1862
menthol1862
phytolaccin1864
alstonia1868
agoniadin1870
guimauve1870
gelsemium1875
iridin1879
hazeline1880
tub-camphor1880
echinacea1887
jacaranda1887
hamamelin1890
quillain1890
vieirin1893
thiolin1894
mentha camphor1902
hamamelis1910
phytohaemagglutinin1949
adaptogen1966
1543 B. Traheron tr. J. de Vigo Most Excellent Wks. Chirurg. ii. iv. f. 255v/1 Purge the norice with cassia, or manna.
1671 W. Salmon Synopsis Medicinæ iii. lxxxiii. 726 Gently purge with Cassia mixed with turpentine.
1728 E. Chambers Cycl. (at cited word) Cassia of the Islands..is sent from the Antilles; where 'tis produced in such abundance, that the Vessels, in their home Voyages, use it as Ballast.
1796 J. G. Stedman Narr. Exped. Surinam II. xxv. 225 The cassia, a shining hard yellow seed inclosed in a woody shell near sixteen inches long..with a black soft pulp as sweet as honey: this is considered as a very safe laxative.
Compounds
attributive and in other combinations.
cassia-bark n.
cassia lignea n. (see sense 1b).
cassia fistula n. (see sense 4).
cassia-buds n. the unexpanded buds of several species of cinnamon, esp. Cinnamomum aromaticum, used like cinnamon or cloves.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > additive > spice > [noun] > cinnamon or cassia
cassiac1000
cannelc1275
cassia ligneaa1398
cinnamonc1430
diacassia1671
canella1693
clove-bark1697
white cinnamon1751
cassia-buds1851
1851–9 Hooker in Manual Sc. Enq. 426 An inferior kind of Cassia Buds known as Lovengoopor is found at Madras.
cassia-oil n. common oil of cinnamon.
cassia-pods n.
cassia-pulp n. the fruit of Cassia fistula (see 4).
cassia-stick tree n. a name of C. fistula.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular medicinal plants or parts > medicinal trees or shrubs > [noun] > non-British medicinal trees or shrubs > pudding-pipe tree
fistulaa1382
cassia fistulaa1398
pudding-pipe tree1597
cassia-stick tree1756
golden shower1882
1756 P. Browne Civil & Nat. Hist. Jamaica ii. ii. 222 The Cassia-stick Tree... The pulp that surrounds the seeds..is an easy gentle laxative.
cassia-tree n. (see 2).
ΚΠ
1779 T. Forrest Voy. New Guinea 266 On the hills we saw a great many cassia trees.
1811 A. T. Thomson London Dispensatory ii. 220 The cassia tree is a native of Malabar, Sumatra, and Java.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1888; most recently modified version published online March 2021).
† cassiaadj.2
Obsolete.
(See quots.)
Π
1692 N. Luttrell Diary in Brief Hist. Relation State Affairs (1857) II. 572 Mr. Wightman..has cast 2 cassia brass guns of 7 foot long, to throw bombs of 10 inches diameter.
1692 N. Luttrell Diary in Brief Hist. Relation State Affairs (1857) II. 93 6 brass cashee pieces..to shoot granado's thro' the side of a ship, then breaks and setts fire to the same.
1693 N. Luttrell Diary in Brief Hist. Relation State Affairs (1857) III. 28 A tryall of some Cassia guns to shoot granadoes..before his majestie in Hyde park.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1888; most recently modified version published online March 2021).
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n.1c1000
adj.21692