Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Calamus
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
(Acorus 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.
(Zool.)
The horny basal portion of a feather; the barrel or quill.
Webster 1828 Edition
Calamus
CALAMUS
,Noun.
1.
The generic name of the Indian cane, called also rotang. It is without branches, has a crown at the top, and is beset with spines.2.
In antiquity, a pipe or fistula, a wind instrument, made of a reed or oaten stalk.3.
A rush or reed used anciently as a pen to write on parchment or papyrus.4.
A sort of reed, or sweet-scented cane, used by the Jews as a perfume. It is a knotty root, reddish without and white within, and filled with a spungy substance. It has an aromatic smell.5.
The sweet flag, called by Linne Acorus.Definition 2024
Calamus
calamus
calamus
See also: Calamus
English
Noun
calamus (usually uncountable, plural calamuses or calami)
- The sweet flag, Acorus calamus.
- Song of Solomon 4:12-14, KJV
- A garden inclosed is my sister, my spouse; a spring shut up, a fountain sealed. Thy plants are an orchard of pomegranates, with pleasant fruits; camphire, with spikenard, Spikenard and saffron; calamus and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense; myrrh and aloes, with all the chief spices
- Song of Solomon 4:12-14, KJV
- A quill.
Translations
sweet flag — see sweet flag
a quill
|
|
Latin
Etymology
From Ancient Greek κάλαμος (kálamos).
Pronunciation
- (Classical) IPA(key): /ˈka.la.mus/
Noun
calamus m (genitive calamī); second declension
- a reed, cane
- (by extension) an object made from a reed, such as a pen, arrow, or fishing rod
- Motto of Keio University:
- Calamus gladio fortior
- The pen is mightier than the sword.
- Calamus gladio fortior
- Motto of Keio University:
- (of plants) a stalk, straw, blade
- the hollow arm of a candelabrum
Inflection
Second declension.
Case | Singular | Plural |
---|---|---|
nominative | calamus | calamī |
genitive | calamī | calamōrum |
dative | calamō | calamīs |
accusative | calamum | calamōs |
ablative | calamō | calamīs |
vocative | calame | calamī |
Derived terms
- calamārius
Descendants
References
- calamus in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- calamus in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
- CALAMUS in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition, 1883–1887)
- Félix Gaffiot (1934), “calamus”, in Dictionnaire Illustré Latin-Français, Paris: Hachette.
- calamus in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898) Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
- calamus in William Smith et al., editor (1890) A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin