Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. Any of various chiefly tropical or subtropical trees, shrubs, or herbs of the genus Cassia in the pea family, having pinnately compound leaves, usually yellow flowers, and long, flat or cylindrical pods.
- n. A tropical Asian evergreen tree (Cinnamomum cassia) having aromatic bark used as a substitute for cinnamon.
- n. The bark of this tree.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. See Cassia.
- n. A very large genus of leguminous herbs, shrubs, and trees, mostly of tropical or warm regions. They have abruptly pinnate leaves, nearly regular flowers, and distinct stamens with the anthers opening by pores. The leaves of several species constitute the well-known cathartic drug called
senna . The purging cassia, C. Fistula, an ornamental tree of the old world, but frequently planted in tropical America, has very long cylindrical pods containing a sweetish pulp which is used in medicine as a mild laxative. The seeds of C. occidentalis are used in the tropics as a substitute for coffee,and are known as negro or Mogdad coffee, though they contain no caffein. Some species furnish ornamental woods, and several are in cultivation, many having handsome foliage and conspicuous yellow flowers. - n. [lowercase] The cinnamon cassia, wild cassia, or cassia-bark. See cassia-lignea.
Wiktionary
- n. countable Any of several tropical leguminous plants, of the genus Cassia, used medicinally as senna.
- n. uncountable A spice (similar to cinnamon) made from the bark of the Chinese cinnamon, Cinnamomum aromaticum.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. (Bot.) A genus of leguminous plants (herbs, shrubs, or trees) of many species, most of which have purgative qualities. The leaves of several species furnish the senna used in medicine.
- n. The bark of several species of Cinnamomum grown in China, etc.; Chinese cinnamon. It is imported as
cassia , but commonly sold as cinnamon, from which it differs more or less in strength and flavor, and the amount of outer bark attached.
WordNet 3.0
- n. Chinese tree with aromatic bark; yields a less desirable cinnamon than Ceylon cinnamon
- n. some genus Cassia species often classified as members of the genus Senna or genus Chamaecrista
- n. any of various trees or shrubs of the genus Cassia having pinnately compound leaves and usually yellow flowers followed by long seedpods
Etymologies
- Middle English, from Latin, a kind of plant, from Greek kasiā, kassiā, probably of Phoenician origin; akin to Hebrew qəṣīyâ, probably ultimately of Chinese origin. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“The other is the Southeast Asian or Chinese cinnamon, often called cassia, which is typically thick and hard, forming a double spiral, darker in color and much stronger in flavor, bitter and somewhat harsh and burning, as in the American “red-hot” candy.”
Simon & Schuster: On Food and Cooking, The Science and Lore of the Kitchen
“I wonder if anyone else knows whether the cassia was a flavour particular to Bristol?”
“Nigardu_, an ancient Sanskrit Catalogue of Plants, the true cinnamon is spoken of as _Sinhalam_, a word which signifies "belonging to Ceylon" to distinguish it from cassia, which is found in Hindustan.”
“Cassia or kulit manis (Laurus cassia) is a coarse species of cinnamon which flourishes chiefly, as well as the two foregoing articles, in the northern part of the island; but with this difference, that the camphor and benzoin grow only near the coast, whereas the cassia is a native of the central parts of the country.”
“The surprise here was that cassia which is very similar, didn't poll a single vote, but that may come down to availability, I have never seen it anywhere.”
“Kezia -- "cassia," an aromatic herb (Ps 45: 8), instead of his offensive breath and ulcers.”
“cassia": Poetic use: a fragrant shrub or plant (OED).”
“And it was then a matter of experimenting with the botanicals – Macedonian juniper berries, Bulgarian coriander seed, French angelica root, Spanish liquorice root, Italian orris root, Spanish ground almond, Chinese cassia bark, Madagascan cinnamon, and Spanish orange peel and lemon peel – and designing the still.”
“At university, where I read Greek and Latin, they appeared in the most unexpected places: a reference to cassia in a poem by”
“In order to create a unique taste, Jared Brown went through a raft of historical recipes from the 1,000-drinks-book library at his home in Gloucestershire, and started experimenting with ingredients such as Italian orris root and Chinese cassia bark.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘cassia’.
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Spices: How Exotic!
That extra something that makes the dish pop.
white pepper, wasabi, vanilla, turmeric, tonka bean, tamarind, sumac, star anise, St. John's bread, Sichuan pepper, sesame seed, sassafras and 70 more...
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eggplantia5's Words
scintillate, marvel, cranberry, oscillate, triumph, bamboozle, grimace, magical, book, hexagon, cipher, compendium and 2727 more...
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If-Christ-Had-Not-Died-For-Thee-Thou-...
Words that have been used as baby names, including virtue names, nature names, place names, etc.
The title is an actual name given to a Puritan boy in the 17th century.faith, hope, grace, charity, chastity, prudence, patience, temperance, river, phoenix, stone, violet and 455 more...
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new acquisitions
found in the wild (i.e., not on Wordie!)
samara, indehiscent, paschal, rogation, wen, rete, diriment, epicene, duramen, euhemerism, objurgate, canaille and 429 more...
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the herbalist
Started off as herbs and spices, now to herbalry and nature-based drugs of all sorts. Plus beautiful flower names!
frankincense, myrrh, basil, thyme, rosemary, paprika, cardamom, tumeric, caraway, juniper, senna, anise and 57 more...
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library visits; other journeys in books
a specialised version of new acquisitions
indian file, sward, cassia, houri, bosky, paranomasia, farcy, manometric, mazagran, attar, arborescent
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A feast of words
words that make my mouth water (the items are rather tasty too)
pumpkin, cream, plum, hominy, cinnamon, frangipane, clafouti, semolina, anise, vanilla, peanut, porridge and 44 more...
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Tree names for naming rabbits, ones I...
juniper, willow, sequoia, hickory, hazel, mahogany, sycamore, walnut, holly, rowan, tamarack, acacia and 7 more...
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Whatever you rolled in, it sure smell...
aka words having to do with scent
oude, sillage, vanilla, chypre, mephitic, noisome, opoponax, patchouli, cardamom, grains of paradise, rice flower, chamomile and 67 more...
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ogham
birch, rowan, alder, willow, ash, hawthorn, oak, holly, hazel, apple, blackthorn, elder and 79 more...
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Indian Spices
This a list of the most commonly used Indian spices.
Tweets
Looking for tweets for cassia.
annabethblue how interesting! Dec 6, 2007
arby Not to be confused (as I just did) with cassis, which is French for blackcurrant. Dec 6, 2007
arby Wikipedia sez:
"Most of the spice sold as cinnamon in the United States and Canada (where true cinnamon is still generally unknown) is actually cassia. In some cases, cassia is labeled "Chinese cinnamon" to distinguish it from the more expensive true cinnamon (Cinnamomum zeylanicum), which is the preferred form of the spice used in Mexico and Europe. "Indonesian cinnamon" can also refer to Cinnamomum burmannii, which is also commonly sold in the United States, labeled only as cinnamon."
So, that makes cassia the Poor Man's Cinnamon. Cinnamon's Red-Headed Stepchild.
*wants to taste REAL cinnamon* Dec 6, 2007