sassafras

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun yellowwood tree with brittle wood and aromatic leaves and bark; source of sassafras oil; widely distributed in eastern North America
  2. noun dried root bark of the sassafras tree

Etymology

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.

In classic literature

Synonyms

sassafras tree, Sassafras albidum

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