calamuses

Noun

calamus (usually uncountable, plural calamuses or calami)

1. (usually) Sweet 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 spices1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Song of Solomon 4:12–14
2. (usually) A quill; the hard, horny, hollow, and more or less transparent part of the stem or scape of a feather.
   • 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
3. (usually) A fish of genus Calamus in family Sparidae; certain porgies.
4. (usually) A palm in genus Calamus, of rattan palms.
5. (usually) A fistular stem without an articulation.
6. (historical, usually) Synonym of fistula (“tube for sucking Eucharist wine”).

   Synonyms:

   fistula

See all 8 meanings of calamus