SUMAC

sumac, sumach, shumac

(noun) a shrub or tree of the genus Rhus (usually limited to the non-poisonous members of the genus)

sumac

(noun) wood of a sumac

Source: WordNet® 3.1

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Etymology

Noun

sumac (usually uncountable, plural sumacs)

Any of various shrubs or small trees of the genus Rhus and other genera in Anacardiaceae, particularly the elm-leaved sumac, Sicilian sumac, or tanner's sumac (Rhus coriaria).

Dried and chopped-up leaves and stems of a plant of the genus Rhus, particularly the tanner's sumac (see sense 1), used for dyeing and tanning leather or for medicinal purposes.

A sour spice popular in the Eastern Mediterranean, made from the berries of tanner's sumac.

Hyponyms

• skunkbush (Rhus trilobata)

Verb

sumac (third-person singular simple present sumacs, present participle sumacking or sumacing, simple past and past participle sumacked or sumaced)

(transitive) To apply a preparation of sumac to (an object), for example, to a piece of leather to tan it.

Anagrams

• CUSMA, Camus, MUSCA, Musca, USMCA, camus, musac

Source: Wiktionary

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Su"mac, Su"mach, n. Etym: [F. sumac, formerly sumach (cf. Sp. zumaque), fr. Ar. summaq.] [Written also shumac.]

1. (Bot.)

Definition: Any plant of the genus Rhus, shrubs or small trees with usually compound leaves and clusters of small flowers. Some of the species are used in tanning, some in dyeing, and some in medicine. One, the Japanese Rhus vernicifera, yields the celebrated Japan varnish, or lacquer.

2. The powdered leaves, peduncles, and young branches of certain species of the sumac plant, used in tanning and dyeing. Poison sumac. (Bot.) See under Poison.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition

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