• Sassafras

    Pronunciation

    • Rhymes: -ɑːs
    • UK IPA: /ˈsasÉ™fɹas/

    Alternative forms

    Origin

    From Spanish sasafras, possibly from Latin saxifragus ("stone-breaking") from the habit of certain plants growing in cracks in boulders.

    Full definition of sassafras

    Noun

    sassafras

    (countable and uncountable; plural sassafrass)
    1. (countable) A tree of species of the eastern United States and Asia having mitten-shaped leaves and red, aromatic heartwood.
    2. (countable) A tree of any species in the genus Sassafras.
    3. (uncountable) The bark of the root of this plant, used for medicinal and (mostly historically) culinary purposes and formerly a main ingredient in root beer.
      • 1624, John Smith, Generall Historie, in Kupperman 1988, p. 82:our allowance was somewhat bettered, by a daily proportion of Bisket, which the sailers would pilfer to sell, give, or exchange with us, for money, Saxefras, furres, or love.

    Derived terms

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