sassafras

Meaning

1. (countable) A tree of species Sassafras albidum 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.

Synonyms

Sassafras albidum

sassafras tree

cinnamon wood

common sassafras

gumbo file

red sassafrass

saxifras

smelling stick

tree

🌳

swite sassafras

ague tree

Translations

sasafrás

Sassafras albidum

Sassafras

Fenchelholzbaum

sassafràs

Nelkenzimtbaum

σασάφρα

Sassafrasrinde

Fenchelholz

weisslicher Sassafras

amerikanischer Fieberbaum

είδος δάφνης

Sassafrasbaum

sassafras

Sassafras-Baum

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈsasəfɹas/

Etymology

From Spanish sasafrás, possibly from Latin saxifragus (“stone-breaking”) from the habit of certain plants growing in cracks in boulders. If this etymology is correct, it is a doublet of saxifrage.