calamus

See also: Calamus

English

Acorus calamus

Wikispecies

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin calamus (“reed, cane”), from Ancient Greek κάλαμος (kálamos). Doublet of shawm.

Noun

calamus (usually uncountable, plural calamuses or calami)

1. The sweet flag, Acorus calamus.
   • Song of Solomon 4:12-14, KJV

     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

2. (ornithology) A quill; the hard, horny, hollow, and more or less transparent part of the stem or scape of a feather.
   • 1956, Advisory Board on Quartermaster Research and Development, The Utilization of Chicken Feathers as Filling Materials, page 9:

     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.

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

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

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

     Chapin asserted that the calamus is firmly fixed in the wing

3. (Christianity, historical) Synonym of fistula (“tube for sucking Eucharist wine”)

Translations

sweet flag — see sweet flag

quill — see quill

References

• calamus at OneLook Dictionary Search
• calamus in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911

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Latin

Etymology

From Ancient Greek κάλαμος (kálamos).

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈka.la.mus/, [ˈka.ɫ̪a.mʊs]

Noun

calamus m (genitive calamī); second declension

1. a reed, cane
2. (by extension) an object made from a reed, such as a pen, arrow, or fishing rod
   • Motto of Keio University:

     Calamus gladio fortior

     The pen is mightier than the sword.

3. (of plants) a stalk, straw, blade
4. the hollow arm of a candelabrum

Declension

Second-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	calamus	calamī
Genitive	calamī	calamōrum
Dative	calamō	calamīs
Accusative	calamum	calamōs
Ablative	calamō	calamīs
Vocative	calame	calamī

Derived terms

• calamārius
• calamister

Descendants

• Albanian: kallam
• English: calamus
• French: calame, chaume, chalumeau
• Galician: cálamo

• Italian: calamo
• Romanian: carâmb
• Spanish: cálamo, carámbano

References

• calamus in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• calamus in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• calamus in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition, 1883–1887)
• calamus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire Illustré Latin-Français, Hachette
• calamus in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898) Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• calamus in William Smith et al., editor (1890) A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin