Meanings
Synonyms & antonyms
nounhandsome South American shrub or small tree having bright scarlet flowers and yielding a valuable fine-grained yellowish wood; yields the bitter drug quassia from its wood and bark
Similar
bitterwoodQuassia amara
Broader
bitterwood tree
Also see
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- translingualQuassia
- Englishquassia
From the genus name translingual Quassia, named after Surinamese physician and botanist Graman Quassi.
More words from translingual
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian квасия
- квасия (kvasija)any of several tropic trees, of the genus Quassia, having scarlet flowers
French quassia
- quassiaany of several tropic trees, of the genus Quassia, having scarlet flowers
Italian quassia
- quassiaany of several tropic trees, of the genus Quassia, having scarlet flowers
Spanish cuasia
- cuasiaany of several tropic trees, of the genus Quassia, having scarlet flowers
Tagalog kuwasya, kuwasya
- kuwasyaany of several tropic trees, of the genus Quassia, having scarlet flowers
- kuwasyathe bitter substance quassin extracted from its bark
Turkish acı ağaç, kavasya
- acı ağaçany of several tropic trees, of the genus Quassia, having scarlet flowers
- kavasyaany of several tropic trees, of the genus Quassia, having scarlet flowers
Cite this entry
APA
quassia. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/quassia
MLA
“quassia.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/quassia. Accessed November 4, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “quassia,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/quassia.
Source: quassia on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.