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The Collaborative International Dictionary
calamus

Calamus \Cal"a*mus\, n.; pl. Calami. [L., a reed. See Halm.]

  1. (Bot.) The indian cane, a plant of the Palm family. It furnishes the common rattan. See Rattan, and Dragon's blood.

  2. (Bot.) A species of Acorus ( Acorus calamus), commonly called calamus, or sweet flag. The root has a pungent, aromatic taste, and is used in medicine as a stomachic; the leaves have an aromatic odor, and were formerly used instead of rushes to strew on floors.

  3. (Zo["o]l.) The horny basal portion of a feather; the barrel or quill. [1913 Webster] ||

Wiktionary
calamus

n. 1 The sweet flag, ''Acorus calamus''. 2 A quill.

WordNet
calamus
  1. n. any tropical Asian palm of the genus Calamus; light tough stems are a source of rattan canes

  2. the aromatic root of the sweet flag used medicinally

  3. perennial marsh plant having swordlike leaves and aromatic roots [syn: sweet flag, sweet calamus, myrtle flag, flagroot, Acorus calamus]

  4. a genus of Sparidae [syn: genus Calamus]

  5. the hollow shaft of a feather [syn: quill, shaft]

  6. [also: calami (pl)]

Gazetteer
Calamus, IA -- U.S. city in Iowa
Population (2000): 394
Housing Units (2000): 173
Land area (2000): 0.487306 sq. miles (1.262116 sq. km)
Water area (2000): 0.000000 sq. miles (0.000000 sq. km)
Total area (2000): 0.487306 sq. miles (1.262116 sq. km)
FIPS code: 09820
Located within: Iowa (IA), FIPS 19
Location: 41.826669 N, 90.759793 W
ZIP Codes (1990): 52729
Note: some ZIP codes may be omitted esp. for suburbs.
Headwords:
Calamus, IA
Calamus
Wikipedia
Calamus

Calamus may mean:

  • Calamus ( Kalamos), a figure in Greek mythology
Calamus (palm)

Calamus is a genus of the palm family Arecaceae. These are among several genera known as rattan palms. There are an estimated 400 species in this genus, all native to tropical and subtropical Asia, Africa, and Australia. They are mostly leaf-climbing lianas with slender, reedy stems. To aid scrambling some species have evolved hooks on the underside of the midrib, or more commonly by modified "pinnae" or tendrils in the form of stout, backward-pointing spines. These stems may grow to lengths of 200 metres.

Calamus (poems)

The "Calamus" poems are a cluster of poems in Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman. These poems celebrate and promote "the manly love of comrades". Most critics believe that these poems are Whitman's clearest expressions in print of his ideas about homosexual love.

Calamus (DTP)

Calamus is a desktop publishing application, built for the Atari ST computer. The first version was released on July 1, 1987 by the former German software company DMC GmbH. Calamus is still supported by its German owner company, invers Software, and also runs under a built-in and transparent Atari emulator on Windows, or on other platforms such as Mac OS 9 and Mac OS X, using any available TOS emulator.

Calamus is a software RIP application which generates high-quality output in any resolution. It was one of the first DTP applications supporting an own vector font format, notable for its support for automatic kerning even where adjacent characters are set in different fonts or at different sizes. Its high modularity offers features for almost every purpose in desktop publishing. Calamus also was one of the first DTP apps to support real virtual objects and frames, nondestructive vector masks, and editable PS/ PDF import. Its (adjustable) measurement base of 1/10,000mm allows accurate positioning of elements.

Calamus was ported to Windows by MGI Software and was released as Calamus 95.

The current version of Calamus is Calamus SL 2015, also available as SLC 2015 (complete edition with all additional modules) and LE 2015 (lite edition with restricted number of modules).

Usage examples of "calamus".

Juice of Cherries, added to Calamus, will make a green: to sowbread a red: so divers juices of Fruits will show divers colours by the fire.

The places where the calamus grew and the modes of preparing them are variously discussed by different ancient and modern writers.

In the far East the calamus is still used, the best being gathered in the month of March, near Aurac, on the Persian Gulf, and still prepared after the old method of immersing them for about six months in fermenting manure which coats them with a sort of dark varnish and the darker their color the more they are prized.

Professor Haeckel, botanising near that same spot, spent an hour in an endeavour to force his way into one of these jungles, but only succeeded in advancing a few steps into the thicket, when, stung by mosquitoes, bitten by ants, his clothing torn from his bleeding arms and legs, wounded by the thousands of sharp thorns of the calamus, hibiscus, euphorbias, lantanas, and myriad other jungle plants, he was obliged, utterly discomfited, to desist.

I have it in musk, civet, amber, Phoenicobalanus, the decoction of turmerick, sesana, nard, spikenard, calamus odoratus, stacte, opobalsamum, amomum, storax, ladanum, aspalathum, opoponax, oenanthe.

Her ascendancy over the King was attributed to the enchantments and experiments of a Dominican friar, learned in many a cantrip and cabala, whom she entertained in her house, and who had fashioned two pictures of Edward and Alive which, when suffumigated with the incense of mysterious herbs and gums, mandrakes, sweet calamus, caryophylleae, storax, benzoin, and other plants plucked beneath the full moon what time Venus was in ascendant, caused the old King to dote upon this lovely concubine.

He had also pennyroyal for healing teas, and calamus and bitter-bark for miseries.

Haematoma and dry gangrene of the ears in animals born of parents in which these ear-alterations had been caused by an injury to the restiform body near the nib of the calamus.

Farther along they spied calami, adversi, frail, and pomposi, which were worse, so they gave up on their search for anything better.

I have it in musk, civet, amber, Phoenicobalanus, the decoction of turmerick, sesana, nard, spikenard, calamus odoratus, stacte, opobalsamum, amomum, storax, ladanum, aspalathum, opoponax, oenanthe.

Why Fenny waters afford the hottest and sweetest plants, as Calamus, Cyperus, and Crow-foot, and mudd cast out of ditches most naturally produceth Arsmart?

Its bitter root, ground and mixed with the powdered root of Acorus calamus, the Sweet Sedge, is in India considered a valuable external application for ringworm.

In it we find 'A perfume for a sweet bagg,' as follows: 'Take half a pound of Cypress Roots, a pound of Orris, 3 quarter of a pound of Calamus, 3 Orange stick with Cloves, 2 ounces of Benjamin, 3 quarters of a pound of Rhodium, a pound of Coriander seed, and an ounce of Storax and 4 pecks of Damask Rose leaves, a peck of dryed sweet Marjerum, a pretty stick of Juniper shaved very thin, some lemon pele dryed and a stick of Brasill.

Lingua mea calamus scribae velociter scribentis: magna voce cantitans (did a piss, says he was dejected, asks to be exonerated), demum ex stercore turpi cum divi Orionis iucunditate mixto, cocto, frigorique exposito, encaustum sibi fecit indelibile (faked O'Ryan's, the indelible ink).

Her ascendancy over the King was attributed to the enchantments and experiments of a Dominican friar, learned in many a cantrip and cabala, whom she entertained in her house, and who had fashioned two pictures of Edward and Alive which, when suffumigated with the incense of mysterious herbs and gums, mandrakes, sweet calamus, caryophylleae, storax, benzoin, and other plants plucked beneath the full moon what time Venus was in ascendant, caused the old King to dote upon this lovely concubine.