Quassinoid
/ˈkwɒsɪnɔɪd/noun
Any of a group of intensely bitter plant compounds, especially those found in trees of the family Simaroubaceae.
Did you know?The name ultimately honors Quassi, an eighteenth-century Surinamese healer whose knowledge of the medicinal quassia tree was recorded and helped inspire its scientific naming.
Etymological Timeline
18th Century
Dutch/Latin
Quassia
“The genus name for tropical trees, honoring Quassi, a healer in Suriname.”
18th Century
Latin
Quassia amara
“Literally, “bitter quassia,” the species traditionally associated with intensely bitter medicinal wood.”
Ancient Greek
Greek
εἶδος (eidos)
“Form, shape, or appearance; the source of the scientific suffix -oid.”
19th Century
Scientific English
-oid
“Resembling or having the form of.”
20th Century
English
quassinoid
“A compound resembling or chemically related to constituents of quassia plants.”