calamus

plural calamuses · plural calami

1. uncountableusuallySweet flag (Acorus calamus).

   A garden inclosed is my sister, my spouse; a spring shut up, a fountain sealed. Thy plants are an orchard of pomegranates, with pleasant fruits; camphire, with spikenard, Spikenard and saffron; calamus and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense; myrrh and aloes, with all the chief spices

   1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Song of Solomon 4:12–14

2. uncountableusuallybiologyA quill; the hard, horny, hollow, and more or less transparent part of the stem or scape of a feather.

   Chapin asserted that the calamus is firmly fixed in the wing

   1969, CH Fry, “Structural and functional adaptation to display in the Standard‐winged nightjar Macrodipteryx longipennis”, in Journal of Zoology

   2 more examples

   Thus, the four distinct feather parts that have been compared as to amino acid content to note whether or not the composition is uniform are rachis, barbs, calamus and medulla.

   1956, Advisory Board on Quartermaster Research and Development, The Utilization of Chicken Feathers as Filling Materials, page 9

   In follicles late in feather growth, after rupture of the feather sheath, this canal contained the upper part of the calamus.

   1969, RIC Spearman, “The epidermis and feather follicles of the king penguin (Aptenodytes patagonica) (aves)”, in Zeitschrift für Morphologie der Tiere

3. uncountableusuallyA fish of genus Calamus in family Sparidae; certain porgies.
4. uncountableusuallyA palm in genus Calamus, of rattan palms.
5. uncountableusuallybiologyA fistular stem without an articulation.
6. historicaluncountableusuallyChristianitySynonym of fistula (“tube for sucking Eucharist wine”).

   Synonyms: fistula

1. A small town in Clinton County, Iowa, United States, named after a creek.
2. A town in Dodge County, Wisconsin, United States.