Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The common name for the plant Lithospermum officinale.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Bot.) A plant of the genus Lithospermum (L. arvense), anciently used, because of its stony pericarp, in the cure of gravel. The German gromwell is the Stellera.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Lithospermum arvense, a plant of the genus Lithospermum anciently used, because of its stony pericarp, in the cure of kidney stones.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun European perennial branching plant; occurs in hedgerows and at the edge of woodlands

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Alteration (probably influenced by speedwell) of Middle English gromil, from Old French : gro-, of unknown meaning + mil, millet (from Latin milium; see millet).]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Called also gromel, grommel, graymill, and gray millet, all probably from French; compare Welsh cromandi.

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Examples

  • Medicinal plants total 462 species and include multiflower knotweed, Taishan ginseng, Chinese gromwell and sealwort, which are renowned throughout the country.

    Mount Taishan Scenic Beauty and Historic Interest Zone, China 2008

  • They include the landslipped cliffs and cliff-top grasslands of West Dorset, the occurrence of the rare purple gromwell Lithosperum purpureocaeruleum between the River Sid and Seaton Hole and coastal ash woodland Fraxinus excelsior located between Axmouth and Lyme Regis Undercliffs.

    Dorset and East Devon Coast, United Kingdom 2008

  • Father, "Cadfael pursued, while he had every man's attention," that I showed you the blue flowers of the gromwell he wore in his cap when he was found.

    The Leper of Saint Giles Peters, Ellis, 1913- 1981

  • Now what, he wondered, viewing its very late and now somewhat jaded flowers, is a bunch of the blue creeping gromwell doing in these parts?

    The Leper of Saint Giles Peters, Ellis, 1913- 1981

  • He had found his creeping gromwell, and he had found the place where Huon de Domville had spent the last night of his life.

    The Leper of Saint Giles Peters, Ellis, 1913- 1981

  • Now what, he wondered, viewing its very late and now somewhat jaded flowers, is a bunch of the blue creeping gromwell doing in these parts?

    The Leper of Saint Giles Peters, Ellis, 1913- 1981

  • He had found his creeping gromwell, and he had found the place where Huon de Domville had spent the last night of his life.

    The Leper of Saint Giles Peters, Ellis, 1913- 1981

  • Father, "Cadfael pursued, while he had every man's attention," that I showed you the blue flowers of the gromwell he wore in his cap when he was found.

    The Leper of Saint Giles Peters, Ellis, 1913- 1981

  • Agaricus those of the bladder; _Cassia fistula_ the affections of the intestines, and Aristolochia the disorders of the uterus: the polished surface and stony hardness which so eminently characterize the seeds of the Lithospermum officinale (common gromwell) were deemed a certain indication of their efficacy in calculous and gravelly disorders; for a similar reason, the roots of the Saxifraga granulata (white saxifrage) gained reputation in the cure of the same disease; and the Euphrasia

    A System Of Logic, Ratiocinative And Inductive John Stuart Mill 1839

  • -- Anise; cardamom; carraway; citron; coriander; fennel; gromwell; melon; musk grains; mustard; nettle; parsley; saffron; tulip, seedy buds of; wormwood.

    The Closet of Sir Kenelm Digby Knight Opened Kenelm Digby 1634

Comments

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  • I supposed I would have guessed an etymology that related the second bit to German wald, forest, but no.

    August 6, 2010

  • Usage/historical note can be found in a comment on cubebs.

    January 8, 2017