cassis

English

Etymology

Borrowed from French cassis.

Noun

cassis (usually uncountable, plural cassises)

1. The blackcurrant plant, Ribes nigrum; the flavor of its berries.
2. A liqueur made from these berries, especially crème de cassis.

   Cassis and soda is a popular drink.

   • 1972, Evan Hunter, Every Little Crook and Nanny, page 132:

     The bartender looked at her malevolently for a moment, shook his head, and walked away to mix the drink. "I never had one of those, those vermouth cassises," Freddie said.

3. (chiefly US) A wine flavor note, suggesting the fruity and full-bodied characteristics of the fruit; mostly referred to as simply blackcurrant in the UK, where the fruit is common.

Translations

See also

• kir

Anagrams

• cissas

Etruscan

Romanization

cassis

1. Romanization of 𐌂𐌀𐌔𐌔𐌉𐌔

French

Etymology

Probably from Latin cassia, from Hebrew קציעה (qetzi'ah), meaning incense cassia or the cassia tree.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ka.sis/

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

cassis m (plural cassis)

1. blackcurrant (fruit)
2. the shrub of this fruit
3. liqueur made with this fruit; crème de cassis
4. (slang) head

Derived terms

• crème de cassis

Further reading

• “cassis”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé , 2012.

Latin

Etymology 1

From the Proto-Indo-European *kadʰ- (“to guard, cover, care for, protect”). Cognate with the Old English hætt (“head-covering, hat”). More at the English hat. Related to Etruscan 𐌂𐌀𐌔𐌔𐌉𐌔 (cassis).

Alternative forms

• cassida

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈkas.sis/,
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈkas.sis/,

Noun

cassis f (genitive cassidis); third declension

1. a plumed metal helmet

Declension

Third-declension noun.

Derived terms

• cassidārius
• cassidīle (Mediaeval Latin), -dīlis (New Latin)
• cassidolābrum (New Latin)
• cassīta

Descendants

• → Hebrew: קסדה (kasdá)
• Italian: casside, cassida

References

• “cassis¹”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “cassis”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• cassis 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)
• 1 cassĭs in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.: “271/1”
• “cassis”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “cassis”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin
• “cassis¹” on page 281/2 of the Oxford Latin Dictionary (1st ed., 1968–82)

Etymology 2

The origin is uncertain. Probably connected with catēna (“chain”).

Pokorny derives from Proto-Indo-European *kat- (“to link or weave together”).

Martirosyan connects cassis and catēna with Old Armenian ցանց (cʻancʻ, “casting-net”) and derives all from a Mediterranean substrate.

Noun

cassis m (genitive cassis); third declension

1. hunting net, snare, toil
2. spider web
3. (in the plural) snares, plots

Declension

Third-declension noun (i-stem).

References

• “cassis²”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “cassis”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• cassĭs in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.