Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun 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.
- noun A tropical evergreen tree (Cinnamomum aromaticum syn. C. cassia) of East and Southeast Asia, having aromatic inner bark.
- noun The bark of this tree, often ground and used as a spice. It is the chief source of cinnamon in the United States.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun See
Cassia . - noun A very large genus of leguminous herbs, shrubs, and trees, mostly of tropical or warm regions.
- noun [lowercase] The cinnamon cassia, wild cassia, or cassia-bark. See
cassia-lignea .
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (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.
- noun 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. - noun the bark of
Cinnamomum cassia , etc. The coarser kinds are calledCassia lignea , and are often used to adulterate true cinnamon. - noun the dried flower buds of several species of cinnamon (
Cinnamomum cassia , atc..). - noun oil extracted from cassia bark and cassia buds; -- called also
oil of cinnamon .
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun countable Any of several tropical leguminous
plants , of the genusCassia , used medicinally assenna . - noun uncountable A
spice (similar tocinnamon ) made from thebark of the Chinese cinnamon, Cinnamomum aromaticum.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun Chinese tree with aromatic bark; yields a less desirable cinnamon than Ceylon cinnamon
- noun some genus Cassia species often classified as members of the genus Senna or genus Chamaecrista
- noun any of various trees or shrubs of the genus Cassia having pinnately compound leaves and usually yellow flowers followed by long seedpods
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
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Examples
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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.
On Food and Cooking, The Science and Lore of the Kitchen Harold McGee 2004
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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.
On Food and Cooking, The Science and Lore of the Kitchen Harold McGee 2004
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I wonder if anyone else knows whether the cassia was a flavour particular to Bristol?
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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.
Ceylon; an Account of the Island Physical, Historical, and Topographical with Notices of Its Natural History, Antiquities and Productions, Volume 1 (of 2) James Emerson Tennent 1836
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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 History of Sumatra Containing An Account Of The Government, Laws, Customs And Manners Of The Native Inhabitants William Marsden 1795
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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.
At My Table 2007
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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.
Archive 2007-03-01 2007
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Kezia -- "cassia," an aromatic herb (Ps 45: 8), instead of his offensive breath and ulcers.
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"cassia": Poetic use: a fragrant shrub or plant (OED).
Sappho and Phaon Agnes Mary Frances 1796
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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.
Best UK Newcomer 2010: Sipsmith distillers Carole Cadwalladr 2010
arby commented on the word cassia
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*
December 6, 2007
arby commented on the word cassia
Not to be confused (as I just did) with cassis, which is French for blackcurrant.
December 6, 2007
annabethblue commented on the word cassia
how interesting!
December 6, 2007
chained_bear commented on the word cassia
Usage/note on galbanum. Another, re: how to tell if it's fresh, on gum arabic.
November 28, 2017