noun
1. small Asiatic tree yielding a toxic exudate from which lacquer is obtained
• Syn:
↑varnish tree, ↑lacquer tree, ↑Chinese lacquer tree, ↑Japanese lacquer tree, ↑Japanese sumac, ↑Toxicodendron vernicifluum, ↑Rhus verniciflua
• Hypernyms: ↑poisonous plant
• Member Holonyms: ↑Toxicodendron, ↑genus Toxicodendron
2. deciduous tree widely grown in southern United States as an ornamental for its handsome maplelike foliage and long racemes of yellow-green flowers followed by curious leaflike pods
• Syn: ↑Chinese parasol tree, ↑Chinese parasol, ↑phoenix tree, ↑Firmiana simplex
• Hypernyms: ↑tree
• Member Holonyms: ↑Firmiana, ↑genus Firmiana
* * *
nounUsage: usually capitalized J
1. or japanese sumac : a Japanese sumac (Rhus verniciflua) that resembles the poison sumac and is a source of the natural Japan varnish or Japan lacquer — called also Japanese lacquer tree
2. : chinese parasol tree
Useful english dictionary. 2012.