Sumac

Quick meaning: Sumac is a noun meaning Any of various shrubs or small trees of the genus Rhus and certain other genera in Anacardiaceae.

Meaning

Any of various shrubs or small trees of the genus Rhus and certain other genera in Anacardiaceae.

More Meanings

1. A sour spice popular in the Eastern Mediterranean, made from the berries of tanner's sumac.
2. (transitive) To apply a preparation of sumac to (an object), for example, to a piece of leather to tan it.
3. Dried and chopped-up leaves and stems of a plant of the genus Rhus, particularly tanner's sumac (see sense 1), used for dyeing and tanning leather or for medicinal purposes.
4. Alternative form of soumak.

Example Sentences

The Rhamnus of Maderaspatan, and the Trifoliate Sumachs from the Coaſt of Africa, are altogether new.

Shumack, Chapacour, and the famous Snake-root, ſo much admir'd in England for being a Cordial, and an Antidote in all Peſtilential Diſeases.

Here, be gardens of Hesperian mould, / Recesses rare, temples of birch and fern, / Preserves of light-green Sumac, Ivy thick, / And old stone-fences tottering to their fall, [...]

Often, on descending into the narrow valleys, we found a little spot of cultivation, a garden, or a field hedged round with shumacs, rhododendrons, and azalias, and a cottage covered with roses.

Word Forms

• sumacs
• sumach
• sumack
• sumacing
• sumacking
• sumaced
• sumacked

Synonyms for sumac

Depending on context, synonyms include sumach, shumac.

Related Words

Related dictionary entries include sumach, shumac, staghorn, poison, sumack, shumack.

Related Dictionary Tools