calamus

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calamus^¹

Where it comes from

Learned borrowing from Latin calamus (“reed, cane”). Doublet of culm, haulm, helm (Etymology 4, stalk), qalam, and shawm.

noun calamuses · calami

uncountable, usually Sweet flag (Acorus calamus). A garden inclosed is my sister, my spouse; a spring shut up, a fountain sealed. Thy plants are an orchard of pomegranates, with pleasant fruits; camphire, with spikenard, Spikenard and saffron; calamus and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense; myrrh and aloes, with all the chief spices
uncountable, usually A quill; the hard, horny, hollow, and more or less transparent part of the stem or scape of a feather. Thus, the four distinct feather parts that have been compared as to amino acid content to note whether or not the composition is uniform are rachis, barbs, calamus and medulla.
uncountable, usually A fish of genus Calamus in family Sparidae; certain porgies.
uncountable, usually A palm in genus Calamus, of rattan palms.
uncountable, usually A fistular stem without an articulation.
historical, uncountable, usually Synonym of fistula (“tube for sucking Eucharist wine”).
Similar: fistula

Calamus^²

proper noun

A small town in Clinton County, Iowa, United States, named after a creek.
A town in Dodge County, Wisconsin, United States.

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MLA

"calamus." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/calamus. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

calamus. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/calamus

Chicago

"calamus." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/calamus.

BibTeX

@misc{calamus_2026,
  title = {calamus},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/calamus},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}