sumac

noun

1. (uncountable, usually)Any of various shrubs or small trees of the genus Rhus and certain other genera in Anacardiaceae.

   “The Rhamnus of Maderaspatan, and the Trifoliate Sumachs from the Coaſt of Africa, are altogether new.”

   “Shumack, Chapacour, and the famous Snake-root, ſo much admir'd in England for being a Cordial, and an Antidote in all Peſtilential Diſeases.”

   “In the mean Time, gargle your Throat, and waſh all your Sores, and Ulcers with the ſame warm Liquor, which ought to be made freſh every 2 Days. Beſides all this, you muſt chew the Sumac Root very often, and ſwallow the healing Juice.”

   “Plant cutings of Myrtles in a bed of light rich earth, obſerving to water and ſhade them until they have taken root; and now you may plant cutings of [...] African Sumaches, and many other exotic plants, which are ſhrubby; [...]”

   “Often, on descending into the narrow valleys, we found a little spot of cultivation, a garden, or a field hedged round with shumacs, rhododendrons, and azalias, and a cottage covered with roses.”

2. (uncountable, usually)Any of various shrubs or small trees of the genus Rhus and certain other genera in Anacardiaceae.

   “.”

3. (uncountable, usually)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. (uncountable, usually)A sour spice popular in the Eastern Mediterranean, made from the berries of tanner's sumac.

   “The spices used in this bread are zaatar and sumack. [...] Sumack is a spice derived from the berries of a bush that grows wild in all Mediterranean areas. The berries are dried and crushed to form a coarse purple-red powder. It has a sour taste.”

   “Sumac is a berry from a bush which grows mostly in southern Italy and the Middle East. The berries are dried and crushed to make ground sumac, used in making many foods such as Yaprakh, Kinirmasee (fried artichoke) and salad.”

5. (alt-of, alternative, uncountable)Alternative form of soumak.

verb

1. (transitive)To apply a preparation of sumac to (an object), for example, to a piece of leather to tan it.

   “After this operation, the goods muſt be winched and well planked, or otherwiſe cleaned; they are then, according to the quality of them, to be ſumached, and then ſnitchelled off, and waſhed.”

   “Then lot 1 will be shumacked first time; that is, passed through a decoction of shumac, then through copperas, and then washed off, and if the decoction of shumac is kept up strong, after being all of them once shumacked they may be dried. [...] If the black liquor and the shumacking were powerful, some of them will shew themselves finished when dry.”

   “A great variety of Blue Drabs can be dyed by first Sumaching the cotton, and then in another tub add a little Nitrate of Iron or Copperas liquor, and give a few turns.”

   “For dyeing on cotton, the cloth or yarn is steeped in sumac or tannic acid, dyed in the color, and then may be fixed by tin, or the cloth may be sumaced and mordanted as usual with tin and then dyed.”

   “Satin calf should be very carefully shaved to get a level substance; also extremely well set, scoured, sumacked, and sleaked out as other calf, but heavier stuffed, keeping the grain free from dubbing, seasoned and blacked as described for satin horse, and finished in the same way. [From the London Tanners' and Curriers' Journal.]”