sassafras
/ˈsasəfɹas/
sassafras noun: a tree of species Sassafras albidum of the eastern United States and Asia having mitten-shaped leaves and red, aromatic heartwood.
Noun
sassafras (countable and uncountable, plural sassafrases)
- A tree of species Sassafras albidum of the eastern United States and Asia having mitten-shaped leaves and red, aromatic heartwood.
- Synonyms:
- red sassafras, silky sassafras, white sassafras
- A tree of any species in the genus Sassafras.
- The bark of the root of this plant, used for medicinal and (mostly historically) culinary purposes and formerly a main ingredient in root beer.
- our allowance was somewhat bettered, by a daily proportion of Bisket, which the sailers would pilfer to sell, give, or exchange with us, for money, Saxefras, furres, or love.1624, John Smith, Generall Historie, Kupperman, published 1988, page 82
- Synonyms:
- cinnamonwood
- Any of various trees of the family Atherospermataceae, having aromatic bark.
- [W]here the gullies are fringed with blackwoods, wattle, myrtles, musks and sassafras[.]1951, Ambrose Pratt, The Lore of the Lyrebird, Melbourne: Robertson and Mullens, page 58
Proper noun capitalized: Sassafras
Sassafras
- A locality in Latrobe council area and the Meander Valley council area, northern Tasmania, Australia.
- A locality in the City of Knox and the Shire of Yarra Ranges, Victoria, Australia.
sassafras meaning in Tagalog
sassafras in Tagalog
- tree of the species Sassafras
- sasapras
- dried bark of the sassafras tree
- sasapras
Synonyms of sassafras
- red sassafras
- silky sassafras
- white sassafras
- cinnamonwood
Forms of sassafras
| plural | sassafrases |
|---|---|
| alternative form | saxefras |
| alternative form | sassafrass |
Origin of sassafras
From Spanish sasafrás, possibly from Latin saxifragus (“stone-breaking”) from the habit of certain plants growing in cracks in boulders. If this etymology is correct, it is a doublet of saxifrage.
Words formed from sassafras
- Australian sassafras
- blackheart sassafras
- black sassafras
- Brazilian sassafras
- Chilean sassafras
- Chinese sassafras
- grey sassafras
- New Zealand sassafras
- northern sassafras
- Oliver's sassafras
- red sassafras
- sassafras nut
- scentless sassafras
- silky sassafras
- socket sassafras
- southern sassafras
- swamp sassafras
- white sassafras
- yellow sassafras
Words that rhyme with sassafras
1 more rhymesFewer rhymes
Questions about sassafras
- What does sassafras mean?
- Sassafras means a tree of species Sassafras albidum of the eastern United States and Asia having mitten-shaped leaves and red, aromatic heartwood.
- What is sassafras in Tagalog?
- Sassafras in Tagalog is sasapras. See Sassafras meaning in Tagalog.
- What part of speech is sassafras?
- Sassafras can be a noun or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce sassafras?
- Sassafras is pronounced /ˈsasəfɹas/ (UK).
- What is the plural of sassafras?
- The plural of sassafras is sassafrases.
Words near sassafras in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: sassafras (page history and authors); Sassafras (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-sassafras.wav.
Cite this entry: “sassafras.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sassafras. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.