quassia

• POS: Noun
• HYPHEN: quas=sia

CIDE DICTIONARY

quassia, n. [NL. From the name of a negro, Quassy, or Quash, who prescribed this article as a specific.].

 The wood of several tropical American trees of the order Simarubeæ, as Quassia amara, Picræna excelsa, and Simaruba amara. It is intensely bitter, and is used in medicine and sometimes as a substitute for hops in making beer.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

quassia, n.
1 an evergreen tree, Quassia amara, native to S. America.
2 the wood, bark, or root of this tree, yielding a bitter medicinal tonic and insecticide.

Etymology

G. Quassi, 18th-c. Surinam slave, who discovered its medicinal properties

ROGET THESAURUS

quassia

Unsavoriness

N unsavoriness, amaritude, acrimony, acridity (bitterness), roughness, acerbity, austerity, gall and wormwood, rue, quassia, aloes, marah, sickener, unsavory, unpalatable, unsweetened, unsweet, ill-flavored, bitter, bitter as gall, acrid, acrimonious, rough, offensive, repulsive, nasty, sickening, nauseous, loathsome, fulsome, unpleasant.