# sumac

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈs(j)uːmæk/ · frequency rank #64,042

## Definitions
1. Any of various shrubs or small trees of the genus Rhus and certain other genera in Anacardiaceae.
2. Any of various shrubs or small trees of the genus Rhus and certain other genera in Anacardiaceae.
3. 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.
4. A sour spice popular in the Eastern Mediterranean, made from the berries of tanner's sumac.

## 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.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/sumac