quassia

quas·sia

Q0021300 (kwŏsh′ə)n.1. a. A tropical American shrub or small tree (Quassia amara) having bright scarlet flowers and yielding a fine-grained, yellowish-white wood.b. The wood of this plant.2. A bitter substance obtained from the wood of this plant or related plants in the family Simaroubaceae, used in medicine and formerly as an insecticide.

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[New Latin, after Gramman Quassi ("Great Man" Kwasi), an 18th-century Guinean who, after being enslaved and transported to Suriname, became renowned as a healer, especially by prescribing quassia for fever, and whose success eventually allowed him to purchase his freedom.]

quassia

(ˈkwɒʃə) n1. (Plants) any tree of the tropical American simaroubaceous genus Quassia, having bitter bark and wood2. (Forestry) the bark and wood of Quassia amara and of a related tree, Picrasma excelsa, used in furniture making3. (Pharmacology) a bitter compound extracted from this bark and wood, formerly used as a tonic and anthelmintic, now used in insecticides[C18: from New Latin, named after Graman Quassi, a slave who discovered (1730) the medicinal value of the root]

quas•sia

(ˈkwɒʃ 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. 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. [1755–65; < New Latin, after Quassi, 18th-century slave in Dutch Guiana who discovered its medicinal properties]

Thesaurus

Noun	1.	quassia - a bitter compound used as an insecticide and tonic and vermifuge; extracted from the wood and bark of trees of the genera Quassia and PicrasmaJamaica quassia - similar to the extract from Quassia amaraorganic compound - any compound of carbon and another element or a radical
	2.	quassia - 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 barkbitterwood, Quassia amarabitterwood tree - any of various trees or shrubs of the family Simaroubaceae having wood and bark with a bitter tastegenus Quassia - tropical trees and shrubs with pinnate leaves and large scarlet flowers; bark is medicinal