Adjacent Words

Lavender definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

LAV'ENDER, n. [L. lavendula.] A plant, or a genus of aromatic plants, Lavandula.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: of a pale purple color [syn: lavender, lilac, lilac- colored] n
1: any of various Old World aromatic shrubs or subshrubs with usually mauve or blue flowers; widely cultivated
2: a pale purple color

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: Middle English lavendre, from Anglo-French, from Medieval Latin lavandula Date: 13th century 1. a. a Mediterranean mint (Lavandula angustifolia syn. L. officinalis) widely cultivated for its narrow aromatic leaves and spikes of lilac-purple flowers which are dried and used in sachets and from which is extracted an aromatic oil used chiefly in perfumery b. any of several plants congeneric with true lavender and used similarly but often considered inferior 2. a pale purple II. transitive verb (lavendered; lavendering) Date: 1820 to sprinkle or perfume with lavender

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. & v. --n. 1 a any small evergreen shrub of the genus Lavandula, with narrow leaves and blue, purple, or pink aromatic flowers. b its flowers and stalks dried and used to scent linen, clothes, etc. 2 a pale blue colour with a trace of red. --v.tr. put lavender among (linen etc.). Phrases and idioms: lavender-water a perfume made from distilled lavender, alcohol, and ambergris. Etymology: ME f. AF lavendre, ult. f. med.L lavandula

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Lavender Lav"en*der, n. [OE. lavendre, F. lavande, It. lavanda lavender, a washing, fr. L. lavare to wash; cf. It. lsavendola, LL. lavendula. So called because it was used in bathing and washing. See Lave. to wash, and cf. Lavender.] 1. (Bot.) An aromatic plant of the genus Lavandula (L. vera), common in the south of Europe. It yields and oil used in medicine and perfumery. The Spike lavender (L. Spica) yields a coarser oil (oil of spike), used in the arts. 2. The pale, purplish color of lavender flowers, paler and more delicate than lilac. Lavender cotton (Bot.), a low, twiggy, aromatic shrub (Santolina Cham[ae]cyparissus) of the Mediterranean region, formerly used as a vermifuge, etc., and still used to keep moths from wardrobes. Also called ground cypress. Lavender water, a perfume composed of alcohol, essential oil of lavender, essential oil of bergamot, and essence of ambergris. Sea lavender. (Bot.) See Marsh rosemary. To lay in lavender. (a) To lay away, as clothing, with sprigs of lavender. (b) To pawn. [Obs.]

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(lavenders) 1. Lavender is a garden plant with sweet-smelling, bluish-purple flowers. N-UNCOUNT: also N in pl 2. Lavender is used to describe things that are pale bluish-purple in colour. COLOUR

1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue

Laid up in lavender; pawned.

Moby Thesaurus

amethystine, lilac, livid, magenta, mauve, mulberry, orchid, pansy-purple, plum-colored, plum-purple, purple, purplescent, purplish, purply, purpurate, purpure, purpureal, purpurean, purpureous, raisin-colored, violaceous, violet