sumac

/ˈs(j)uːmæk/

sumac means any of various shrubs or small trees of the genus Rhus and certain other genera in Anacardiaceae. Lexicurio rates it Rare gem — a strength score of 84 out of 100.

sumac is pronounced /ˈs(j)uːmæk/.

Etymology

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.

noun

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.”
Any of various shrubs or small trees of the genus Rhus and certain other genera in Anacardiaceae.; 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.”

verb

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.”