calamus : Dictionary / Wörterbuch (BEOLINGUS, TU Chemnitz)

English Dictionary: calamus	by the DICT Development Group
4 results for calamus
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
calamus n any tropical Asian palm of the genus Calamus; light tough stems are a source of rattan canes the aromatic root of the sweet flag used medicinally perennial marsh plant having swordlike leaves and aromatic roots Synonym(s): sweet flag, calamus, sweet calamus, myrtle flag, flagroot, Acorus calamus a genus of Sparidae Synonym(s): Calamus, genus Calamus the hollow spine of a feather Synonym(s): quill, calamus, shaft
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Calamus \Cal"a*mus\, n.; pl. {Calami}. [L., a reed. See {Halm}.] 1. (Bot.) The indian cane, a plant of the Palm family. It furnishes the common rattan. See {Rattan}, and {Dragon's blood}. 2. (Bot.) A species of {Acorus} ({A. calamus}), commonly called {calamus}, or {sweet flag}. The root has a pungent, aromatic taste, and is used in medicine as a stomachic; the leaves have an aromatic odor, and were formerly used instead of rushes to strew on floors. 3. (Zo[94]l.) The horny basal portion of a feather; the barrel or quill.
From U.S. Gazetteer (1990) [gazetteer]:
Calamus, IA (city, FIPS 9820) Location: 41.82665 N, 90.75967 W Population (1990): 379 (170 housing units) Area: 1.3 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water) Zip code(s): 52729
From Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary [easton]:
Calamus the Latin for cane, Hebrew _Kaneh_, mentioned (Ex. 30:23) as one of the ingredients in the holy anointing oil, one of the sweet scents (Cant. 4:14), and among the articles sold in the markets of Tyre (Ezek. 27:19). The word designates an Oriental plant called the "sweet flag," the Acorus calamus of Linnaeus. It is elsewhere called "sweet cane" (Isa. 43:24; Jer. 6:20). It has an aromatic smell, and when its knotted stalk is cut and dried and reduced to powder, it forms an ingredient in the most precious perfumes. It was not a native of Palestine, but was imported from Arabia Felix or from India. It was probably that which is now known in India by the name of "lemon grass" or "ginger grass," the Andropogon schoenanthus. (See {CANE}.)