calamus

Borrowed from Latin calamus (“reed, cane”), from Ancient Greek κάλαμος (kálamos). Doublet of shawm.

calamus (usually uncountable, plural calamuses or calami)

1. The sweet flag, Acorus calamus.
   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981, Song of Solomon 4:12–14:

     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

2. (ornithology) A quill; the hard, horny, hollow, and more or less transparent part of the stem or scape of a feather.
   • 1956, Advisory Board on Quartermaster Research and Development, The Utilization of Chicken Feathers as Filling Materials, page 9:

     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.

   • 1969, RIC Spearman, “The epidermis and feather follicles of the king penguin (Aptenodytes patagonica) (aves)”, in Zeitschrift für Morphologie der Tiere:

     In follicles late in feather growth, after rupture of the feather sheath, this canal contained the upper part of the calamus.

   • 1969, CH Fry, “Structural and functional adaptation to display in the Standard‐winged nightjar Macrodipteryx longipennis”, in Journal of Zoology:

     Chapin asserted that the calamus is firmly fixed in the wing

3. A fish of genus Calamus in family Sparidae; certain porgies.
4. A palm in genus Calamus, of rattan palms.
5. (Christianity, historical) Synonym of fistula (“tube for sucking Eucharist wine”)

• calamus on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• ''Acorus calamus'' on Wikispecies.Wikispecies
• ''Calamus'' (Sparidae) on Wikispecies.Wikispecies
• ''Calamus'' (Arecaceae) on Wikispecies.Wikispecies
• calamus at OneLook Dictionary Search
• calamus in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911

From Ancient Greek κάλαμος (kálamos). Doublet of culmus. Compare calamīna.

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈka.la.mus/, [ˈkäɫ̪ämʊs̠]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈka.la.mus/, [ˈkäːlämus]

calamus m (genitive calamī); second declension

1. a reed, cane
2. (by extension) an object made from a reed, such as a reed pen, arrow, or fishing rod
   • Motto of Keio University:

     Calamus gladio fortior

     The pen is mightier than the sword.

3. (of plants) a stalk, straw, blade
4. the hollow arm of a candelabrum
5. a whistle or musical pipe; sometimes specifically a blown pipe with tone holes

Second-declension noun.

• calamārius
• calamister

• “calamus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “calamus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• calamus in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• calamus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette
• “calamus”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898) Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “calamus”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890) A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin
• Lexicon musicum Latinum medii aevi, digital version in the Wörterbuchnetz des Trier Center for Digital Humanities, version 01/21, accessed 12 May 2022.