Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A bulbous Mediterranean plant (Hyacinthus orientalis) having narrow leaves and a terminal raceme of variously colored, usually fragrant flowers, with a funnel-shaped perianth.
- noun Any of several similar or related plants, such as the grape hyacinth.
- noun Greek Mythology A plant, perhaps the larkspur, gladiolus, or iris, that sprang from the blood of the slain Hyacinthus.
- noun A deep purplish blue to vivid violet.
- noun A reddish or cinnamon-colored variety of transparent zircon, used as a gemstone.
- noun A blue precious stone, perhaps the sapphire, known in antiquity.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun An ornamental bulbous plant of the genus Hyacinthus (H. orientalis), natural order Liliaceæ.
- noun By transfer, a plant of some other genus.
- noun Among the ancients, a gem of bluish-violet color, supposed to be the sapphire.
- noun In modern usage, a gem of a reddish-orange color which is a variety of the mineral zircon. Some varieties of garnet and topaz also receive this name.
- noun In heraldry, the tincture tenney or tawny when blazoning is done by colors of precious stones. See
blazon . - noun In ornithology, a purple gallinule, as of the genus Ionornis or Porphyrio; a sultan.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun A bulbous plant of the genus Hyacinthus, bearing beautiful spikes of fragrant flowers.
Hyacinthus orientalis is a common variety. - noun A plant of the genus Camassia (
Camassia Farseri ), called alsoEastern camass ; wild hyacinth. - noun The name also given to
Scilla Peruviana , a Mediterranean plant, one variety of which produces white, and another blue, flowers; -- called also, from a mistake as to its origin,Hyacinth of Peru . - noun (Min.) A red variety of zircon, sometimes used as a gem. See
Zircon . - noun (Bot.) a climbing leguminous plant (
Dolichos Lablab ), related to the true bean. It has dark purple flowers and fruit.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun Any
bulbous plant of thegenus Hyacinthus , native to theMediterranean andSouth Africa . - noun A variety of
zircon , ranging in color from brown, orange, reddish-brown and yellow.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun any of numerous bulbous perennial herbs
- noun a red transparent variety of zircon used as a gemstone
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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A curiosity of the water hyacinth is that, in floating plants, the flower heads or inflorescences bend downwards one or two days after flowering,, submerging themselves in the water.
Did you know? Lake Chapala under attack from water hyacinth 2008
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Today, the hyacinth is found in more than fifty countries on five continents.
Did you know? Lake Chapala under attack from water hyacinth 2008
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Today, the hyacinth is found in more than fifty countries on five continents.
Did you know? Lake Chapala under attack from water hyacinth 2008
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A curiosity of the water hyacinth is that, in floating plants, the flower heads or inflorescences bend downwards one or two days after flowering,, submerging themselves in the water.
Did you know? Lake Chapala under attack from water hyacinth 2008
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Careful now, be sure water hyacinth is the only plant they'll eat.
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Careful now, be sure water hyacinth is the only plant they'll eat.
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However, while I'm certainly no chemist, very few if any of these uses are presumably appropriate when the water hyacinth is heavily contaminated.
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For instance, on page 140, the botanical name for the water hyacinth is given as "Eichornia crassipes"; the more usual spelling is "Eichhornia crassipes", as used on page 210.
Lake Chapala: a review of "The Lerma-Lake Chapala watershed: evaluation and management" 2004
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The water hyacinth is a plant that removes pollutants from the water, which is why it isn't feasible to dredge it out, chop it up, and use it for forage or mulch.
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For instance, on page 140, the botanical name for the water hyacinth is given as "Eichornia crassipes"; the more usual spelling is "Eichhornia crassipes", as used on page 210.
Lake Chapala: a review of "The Lerma-Lake Chapala watershed: evaluation and management" 2004
treeseed commented on the word hyacinth
The word hyacinth comes from the Greek Hyakinthos, a beautiful young man who in Greek mythology was loved by the sun god Apollo. One day they were practising throwing the discus but the jealous god of the West Wind, who was also in love with Hyakinthos, blew the discus back and it fatally wounded him. From his blood grew a flower which the god Apollo named after him.
January 20, 2008
knitandpurl commented on the word hyacinth
On Emily Dickinson's garden:
"She never left the house except to tend the hyacinths and heliotrope in her garden, or to cut back the cascading honeysuckle, which, as her niece next door observed, 'lured the hummingbirds all day'."
from A Summer of Hummingbirds" by Christopher Benfey, p 3
(and a picture)
October 15, 2008
bilby commented on the word hyacinth
'You gave me hyacinths first a year ago;
They called me the hyacinth girl.'
- Yet when we came back, late, from the hyacinth garden,
Your arms full and your hair wet, I could not
Speak, and my eyes failed, I was neither
Living nor dead, and I knew nothing,
Looking into the heart of light, the silence.
Oed'und leer das Meer.
- TS Eliot, 'The Wasteland'.
July 22, 2009
bilby commented on the word hyacinth
If, of thy mortal goods, thou art bereft,
And from thy slender store two loaves
alone to thee are left,
Sell one & from the dole,
Buy hyacinths to feed the soul.
- Muslihuddin Sadi.
February 20, 2010
ruzuzu commented on the word hyacinth
Sometimes bilby scares me. I think he knows too much.
February 20, 2010
bilby commented on the word hyacinth
Are you the Hyacinth Girl?
February 20, 2010
PossibleUnderscore commented on the word hyacinth
I think you both know too much.
*psst* I'm pretty sure you just gave away her secret, bilby.
February 21, 2010
ruzuzu commented on the word hyacinth
Dang it, I made it this far without reading The Waste Land, but now I'll have to read it. I'll get back to you on this.
February 21, 2010
ruzuzu commented on the word hyacinth
Here's my report on The Waste Land. First, if anyone asks, it's my official policy to make fun of people who read personal symbolism into poetry while neglecting a poem's form and its political, social, or literary context, blah, blah, blah.
Now it's safe for me to say it was "iroquoisy" because of the footnote about Actaeon, the ardent hunter, and that of course I'm the hyacinth girl--we all are. We are also all Tiresias.
February 23, 2010