Some 16th-century Italian clergymen tried to ban coffee because they believed it to be “satanic.” However, Pope Clement VII loved coffee so much that he lifted the ban and had coffee baptized in 1600.
CALAMUS
quill, calamus, shaft
(noun) the hollow spine of a feather
Calamus, genus Calamus
(noun) a genus of Sparidae
calamus
(noun) the aromatic root of the sweet flag used medicinally
calamus
(noun) any tropical Asian palm of the genus Calamus; light tough stems are a source of rattan canes
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Etymology
Noun
calamus (usually uncountable, plural calamuses or calami)
The sweet flag, Acorus calamus.
(ornithology) A quill; the hard, horny, hollow, and more or less transparent part of the stem or scape of a feather.
(Christianity, historical) synonym of fistula
Source: Wiktionary
Cal"a*mus, n.; pl. Calami. Etym: [L., a reed. See Halm.]
1. (Bot.)
Definition: The indian cane, a plant of the Palm family. It furnishes the common rattan. See Rattan, and Dragon's blood.
2. (Bot.)
Definition: 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. (Zoöl.)
Definition: The horny basal portion of a feather; the barrel or quill.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
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Word of the Day
12 June 2025
RAREFACTION
(noun) a decrease in the density of something; “a sound wave causes periodic rarefactions in its medium”
Coffee Trivia
