Cassia
/ˈkæʃə/noun
A spice or aromatic bark from plants of the cinnamon family, and the name of several related plants.
Did you know?Cassia entered English through Latin and Greek from a Semitic source word for an aromatic bark, and it appears in ancient texts as both a costly perfume and a sacred offering.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Semitic
Semitic
*qṣīʾa / *qisṭa (reconstructed)
“An aromatic bark or spice source, likely the ancestral trade term behind later forms.”
Ancient Greek
Greek
κασία (kasía)
“Cassia; aromatic bark used as a spice and perfume.”
Classical Latin
Latin
cassia
“Cassia; an aromatic bark or spice imported from the East.”
Old French
Old French
casse
“Cassia; the spice or aromatic bark.”
Middle English
English
cassia
“Cassia; the spice or aromatic bark.”
Modern English
English
cassia
“A spice or aromatic bark from plants of the cinnamon family, and the name of several related plants.”
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