sumac
Syllables: su·mac/ˈs(j)uːmæk/US/ˈsuːˌmæk/
sumac noun: any of various shrubs or small trees of the genus Rhus and certain other genera in Anacardiaceae. Also the alternative form of soumak.
Noun
sumac (usually uncountable, plural sumacs)
- Any of various shrubs or small trees of the genus Rhus and certain other genera in Anacardiaceae.
- The Rhamnus of Maderaspatan, and the Trifoliate Sumachs from the Coaſt of Africa, are altogether new.1693 January, Leonardi Plukenetii [i.e., Leonard Plukenet], “PHYTOGRAPHIA seu Plantæ quamplurimæ novæ & Literis huc usque incognitæ variis & remotissimis Provinciis ipsisq; Indiis allatæ Nomine &...
- Shumack, Chapacour, and the famous Snake-root, ſo much admir'd in England for being a Cordial, and an Antidote in all Peſtilential Diſeases.1708, J[ohn] Oldmixon, “[The History of Virginia.] Of the Climate, the Soil, and Its Productions, as Trees, Seeds, Plants, Roots, Fruits, and Flowers.”, in The British Empire in America, Containing...
- particularly, one of species Rhus coriaria (tanner's sumac)
- .
- Dried and chopped-up leaves and stems of a plant of the genus Rhus, particularly tanner's sumac (see sense 1), used for dyeing and tanning leather or for medicinal purposes.
- A sour spice popular in the Eastern Mediterranean, made from the berries of tanner's sumac.
- The spices used in this bread are zaatar and sumack. [...] Sumack is a spice derived from the berries of a bush that grows wild in all Mediterranean areas. The berries are dried and crushed to form a coarse purple-red powder. It has a sour taste.2006, Rivka Goldman, “Bread with Spices”, in Mama Nazima’s Jewish-Iraqi Cuisine: Low-fat, Low-cholesterol: Cuisine, History, Cultural References and Survival Stories of the Jewish-Iraqi, New York...
- Sumac is a berry from a bush which grows mostly in southern Italy and the Middle East. The berries are dried and crushed to make ground sumac, used in making many foods such as Yaprakh, Kinirmasee (fried artichoke) and salad.2015, Ala Barzinji, “Simple Dishes”, in Traditional Kurdish Food: An Insight into Kurdish Culinary Heritage, Kibworth Beauchamp, Leicestershire: Matador, →ISBN, page 172
Verb
sumac (third-person singular simple present sumacs, present participle sumacing or sumacking, simple past and past participle sumaced or sumacked)
- To apply a preparation of sumac to (an object), for example, to a piece of leather to tan it.
- After this operation, the goods muſt be winched and well planked, or otherwiſe cleaned; they are then, according to the quality of them, to be ſumached, and then ſnitchelled off, and waſhed.1792, [Charles O’Brien], “Of Cleansing Goods, Previous to Maddering, or Boiling Off”, in A Treatise on Calico Printing, Theoretical and Practical: […], volume I, [London]: Printed for C. O’Brien, […]...
- Then lot 1 will be shumacked first time; that is, passed through a decoction of shumac, then through copperas, and then washed off, and if the decoction of shumac is kept up strong, after being all of them once shumacked they may be dried. [...] If the black liquor and the shumacking were powerful...1816, Thomas Packer, “On Dying Silk Black, According to M. [Pierre] Macquer”, in The Dyer’s Guide; being an Introduction to the Art of Dying […], London: Printed for Sherwood, Neely, and Jones, […]...
Also used as
sumac is also the alternative form of soumak.
sumac meaning in Hindi, Urdu, Arabic and Malay
sumac in Hindi
- shrub or small tree of the genus Rhus, etc.
- सुमाक़ sumāq
sumac in Urdu
- shrub or small tree of the genus Rhus, etc.
- سماق summāq
sumac in Arabic
- shrub or small tree of the genus Rhus, etc.
- سُمَّاق summāq
- sour spice
- سُمَّاق summāq
sumac in Malay
- shrub or small tree of the genus Rhus, etc.
- sumac
More languagesFewer languages
- sumac in Indonesian
- sumac
- sumac in Persian
- سماق somâq, ترشابه toršābe
Examples of sumac in a sentence
- Beſides all this, you muſt chew the Sumac Root very often, and ſwallow the healing Juice.1734, [John Tennent], Every Man His Own Doctor: Or, The Poor Planter’s Physician. […], 2nd edition, Williamsburg, Va.; Annapolis, Md....
- Here, be gardens of Hesperian mould, / Recesses rare, temples of birch and fern, / Preserves of light-green Sumac, Ivy thick, / And old stone-fences tottering to their fall, [...]1858, [William Ellery Channing], Near Home. A Poem, Boston, Mass.: James Munroe and Company, →OCLC, page 46:
- Without the wall a birch-tree shows / Its drouped and tasselled head; / Within, a stag-horned sumack grows, / Fern-leafed, with spikes of red.1869, Israel Wilkinson, “Sixth Generation”, in Memoirs of the Wilkinson Family in America. […], Jacksonville, Ill.: Davis & Penniman...
- They plunged into the narrow path between the tall sumach bushes, and were at once hidden in the gloom.1876, Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], chapter XXIX, in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Hartford, Conn.: The American...
Synonyms of sumac
- elm-leaved sumac
- Sicilian sumac
Forms of sumac
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | sumacs |
| alternative form | shumac |
| alternative form | shumack |
| alternative form | sumach |
| alternative form | sumack |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | sumacs |
| present participle | sumacing |
| present participle | sumacking |
| past participle | sumaced |
| past | sumaced |
| past participle | sumacked |
| past | sumacked |
Origin of sumac
The noun is derived from Middle English sumac, asimac, simak, sumak, symak (“portions of the shrub Rhus coriaria, chiefly used for medicinal purposes”), from Anglo-Norman sumak, symak, and Old French sumac, or directly from its etymon Medieval Latin sumach, sumac, from Arabic سُمَّاق (summāq), from Classical Syriac ܣܘܡܩܐ (summāqā, “red; sumac”). The English word is cognate with Italian sommaco, sommacco, Occitan simac, Portuguese sumagre, Spanish zumaque. The verb is derived from the noun.
Words formed from sumac
- African sumac
- American sumac
- Australian sumac
- black sumac
- Chinese sumac
- climbing sumac
- coral sumac
- desert sumac
- dwarf sumac
- dyer's sumac
- elm-leaved sumac
- evergreen sumac
- flameleaf sumac
- fragrant sumac
- hairy sumac
- Indian sumac
- Japanese sumac
- Kearney sumac
- Kearney's sumac
- laurel sumac
- lemonade sumac
- lemonberry sumac
- lemon sumac
- littleleaf sumac
- Mearn's sumac
- Michaux's sumac
- Müller's sumac
- panicled sumac
- pink-flowering sumac
- poison sumac
- Potanin sumac
- prairie sumac
- prairie flameleaf sumac
- Punjab sumac
- red sumac
- rock sumac
- scarlet sumac
- shining sumac
- Sicilian sumac
- skunkbush sumac
- smooth sumac
- sleek sumac
- species
- staghorn sumac
- stag's horn sumac
- stinking sumac
- sugar sumac
- sumacade
- sumac cellophane bee
- sumac cellophane-cuckoo bee
- sumac flea beetle
- sumac flowerbud gall midge
- sumac gall aphid
- sumac gall pithead
- sumac-grass aphid
- sumac leafblotch miner
- sumac leafrolling weevil
- sumac leaftier moth
- sumac needles
- sumac speckled lanternfly
Phrases with sumac
Questions about sumac
- What does sumac mean?
- Sumac means any of various shrubs or small trees of the genus Rhus and certain other genera in Anacardiaceae.
- What is sumac in Hindi?
- Sumac in Hindi is सुमाक़ (sumāq). See Sumac meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use sumac in a sentence?
- Beſides all this, you muſt chew the Sumac Root very often, and ſwallow the healing Juice.
- What part of speech is sumac?
- Sumac can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce sumac?
- Sumac is pronounced /ˈs(j)uːmæk/ (UK).
- What is the plural of sumac?
- The plural of sumac is sumacs.
Words near sumac in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: sumac (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.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-sumac1.wav.
Cite this entry: “sumac.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sumac. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.