Quas"si*a (?), n. [NL. From the name of a negro, Quassy, or Quash, who prescribed this article as a specific.]
The wood of several tropical American trees of the order Simarubeae, as Quassia amara, Picraena excelsa, and Simaruba amara. It is intensely bitter, and is used in medicine and sometimes as a substitute for hops in making beer.
© Webster 1913.