Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A deciduous eastern North American tree (Sassafras albidum) having irregularly lobed leaves and aromatic bark, leaves, and branches.
- n. The dried root bark of this plant, used as a flavoring and a source of a volatile oil.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A tree, the only species of the genus Sassafras. It is common in eastern North America, in the south taking possession, along with the persimmon, of abandoned fields. It reaches a height of about 45 feet. Its wood is light and soft, coarsegrained, not strong, but very durable in contact with the soil, used for fencing, in cooperage, etc. The root, especially its bark, enters into commerce as a powerful aromatic stimulant, and is much used in flavoring and scenting, an oil being distilled in large quantities for the latter purposes. The bark is officinal, as also the pith, which affords a mucilaginous application and a drink. An early name in England was ague-tree.
- n. [capitalized] [NL. (C. G. Nees, 1836).] A genus of apetalous trees of the order Laurineæ and tribe Litseaceæ, characterized by an umbel-like inflorescence of diœcious flowers in loose and short racemes from terminal buds, and produced around the base of the new growth of the season. The flowers have a six-lobed perianth and nine stamens in three rows, with their anthers introrsely four-celled, the third row of filaments each with a stalked gland at the base. The only species, S. officinale, is a native of the United States, especially southward and principally east of the Mississippi, extending also into Canada. It is a small or middle-sized tree, with aromatic bark and roots, and remarkable for the green color of its flowers, bud-scales, and branches, and for its dimorphous leaves, the earlier entire and oval, the later three-lobed or irregular. See cut in next column.
- n. Of New South Wales: Dorypha Sassafras of the same order, another large tree, with very fragrant leaves, and aromatic bark used in infusion as a tonic.
- n. Of Queensland: a smaller related tree, Daphnandra micrantha.
- n. A smaller related tree, Daphnandra micrantha, of the family Monimiaceæ.
Wiktionary
- n. A tree of species Sassafras albidum of the eastern United States and Asia having mitten-shaped leaves and red, aromatic heartwood.
- n. A tree of any species in the genus Sassafras.
- n. The bark of the root of this plant, used for medicinal and (mostly historically) culinary purposes and formerly a main ingredient in root beer.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. An American tree of the Laurel family (Sassafras officinale); also, the bark of the roots, which has an aromatic smell and taste.
WordNet 3.0
- n. yellowwood tree with brittle wood and aromatic leaves and bark; source of sassafras oil; widely distributed in eastern North America
- n. dried root bark of the sassafras tree
Etymologies
- Spanish sasafrás, from Late Latin saxifragia, kind of herb, variant of (herba) saxifraga, saxifrage; see saxifrage.
Examples
“The sassafras is rusty, the beeches have yet to go from green to gold, and those wily, ancient oaks are always the last to give up their autumnal ghosts.”
“_Hartshorn_ applied to the stings of poisonous insects will allay the pain and stop the swelling; or apply oil of sassafras, which is better.”
“The sassafras is a beautiful shrub, and I cannot imagine why it has not been naturalized in England, for it has every appearance of being extremely hardy.”
“She recalled the sassafras trees reaching much larger proportions and the wood being valued by chair makers for its lightness and resiliency.”
“When Gosnold prepared to return to England in his vessel, the "Concord," with a cargo of native products, such as sassafras, cedar, etc., those who had planned to remain and settle returned with him, fearing that they might not share in the expected profits.”
The New England Magazine, Volume 1, No. 5, Bay State Monthly, Volume 4, No. 5, May, 1886
“They love the leaves from trees, especially sassafras trees, and gobble them up quickly.”
“Some natural sassafras and nutmeg from the grapes, but none of the over-the-top oak to mask what might or might not be present in the fruit.”
“I am soooo glad I don't get hangovers ... and YES I do drink. sassafras”
“On Saturday mornings my mother would run into people she knew buying homemade pies, dried sassafras bark, or green bell peppers such exotic items in the southern Indiana of the early 1970s, before globalization folded the ends of the earth together, that people referred to them as “mangoes”.”
“I would bring this uncouth congregation to my oasis, dense with ticks and garden snakes a hidden patch of scrub and sassafras gone mad in the sticky summer sweetness pulling at its uneasy borders of drainage ditch and fussy trim lawns.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘sassafras’.
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The weird, the wonderful and the plain hilarious
Loved for their ingenuity, an exact description, or simply for the pure joy of it.
acidulous, aprosdoketon, higgledy-piggledy, lexicographical, ninja, audacious, somnabulist, shivaree, amorphous, quidnunc, glib, melancholy and 353 more...
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old timey talk
Words or Sayings from the 1920's or whatever that no one really uses anymore (at least in that context).
scram, bearcat, heavens to betsy, dick, double-cross, ducky, gams, goofy, hooch, jalopy, john, joe and 174 more...
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Choi inspired
Fun words my friend loves and others I introduced to him.
Namby-pamby, Niminy piminy, Nitpick, Nit-wit, Piggly-wiggly, Ping-pong, Pitter-patter, Raggle-taggle, Riff-raff, zoot suit, zig-zag, wishy-washy and 73 more...
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Down in Pine Ridge
Words heard on the radio program, Lum and Abner.
sassafras, tolerably, reckon, grannies, doggies, flat-footed, drummer, county seat, mum, almanac, frazzle
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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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ssssounds
Sounds of words I like...
aporia, posit, sequela, sepal, corm, pedicel, sassafras, lathe

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