quassia meaning

quassia as a noun

1. a bitter compound used as an insecticide and tonic and vermifuge; extracted from the wood and bark of trees of the genera Quassia and Picrasma

   Type of: organic compound

   Kinds: Jamaica quassia

2. handsome South American shrub or small tree having bright scarlet flowers and yielding a valuable fine-grained yellowish wood; yields the bitter drug quassia from its wood and bark

   Synonyms: bitterwood, Quassia amara

   Type of: bitterwood tree

How to pronounce quassia

quassia is pronounced /ˈkwɑʃiə/ in American English. It has 3 syllables, with the stress on the first syllable.