sumac

or su·mach

[ soo-mak, shoo- ]

noun

1. any of several shrubs or small trees belonging to the genus Rhus of the cashew family, having milky sap, compound leaves, and small, fleshy fruit.
2. a preparation of the dried and powdered leaves, bark, etc., of certain species of Rhus, especially R. coriaria of southern Europe, used especially in tanning.
3. the wood of these trees.

Word History and Origins

Origin of sumac¹

1250–1300; Middle English < Medieval Latin < Arabic summāq

Example Sentences

The smoke from her kitchen fire rose white as she put in dry sumac to give it a start.

From Project Gutenberg

Mary rose from the stone by this roadway, where she had been sitting beneath a solitary sumac.

From Project Gutenberg

From the smooth sumac they reap a harvest in midsummer, and in March they get a good grist of pollen from the skunk-cabbage.

From Project Gutenberg

All the colors of autumn were at their height, and gorgeous plots of maple thicket and sumac burned against the brown and green.

From Project Gutenberg

Also spelt Sumac and Shumac, and always pronounced like the latter.

From Project Gutenberg