English
cascara
Cascara comes from Spanish cáscara ‘bark" or "husk’, from Latin quassāre ‘to tremor’, and ultimately from quatiō ‘to shake’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEquatiō‘to shake’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEquassāre‘to tremor’
- Spanishc. 1500–presentcáscara‘bark" or "husk’
- Englishearliest quotation 1972cascara
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEquatiō‘to shake’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEquassāre‘to tremor’
- Spanishc. 1500–presentcáscara‘bark" or "husk’
- Englishearliest quotation 1972cascara
Earliest quotation: 1972, John O'Grady, It's Your Shout: “That's as bitter as a dose of cascara.”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *(s)kuh₁t-yé-ti
pasta, paste, pastiche, patisserie, 28 more
through Latin quatiō ‘to shake’
concussion, cashier, quash, repercussion, zouk, fracas, casse, casco, 17 more
Today it means
noun A North American buckthorn (Frangula purshiana, syn. Rhamnus purshiana) whose bark is used as a laxative.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin quatiō / cascara