lotus

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

• noun Either of two aquatic plants, Nelumbo nucifera of Asia and Australia with pink flowers, or N. lutea of eastern North America with yellow flowers, or their cultivated varieties, having large round leaves, fragrant many-petaled flowers, a round perforated seedpod, and fleshy rhizomes.
• noun The edible seed, leaf, or rhizome of either of these plants.
• noun Any of several water lilies, especially Nymphaea caerula or N. lotus.
• noun An artistic representation of the flower or bud of any of various lotuses or similar plants.
• noun Any of several leguminous plants of the genus Lotus.
• noun A small Mediterranean tree or shrub whose fruit was eaten by the lotus-eaters.
• noun The fruit of this plant.

from The Century Dictionary.

• noun Nelumbo Nelumbo, a native of the warmer parts of Asia and of Australia, apparently not of Egypt, though long cultivated there and often called Egyptian lotus. It is a superb plant with large, showy pink or sometimes white flowers. It is very common in cultivation, and figures extensively in Indian mythology.
• noun One of a number of different plants famous in mythology and tradition, or in modern times associated with traditions.
• noun [capitalized] [NL. (Tournefort, 1700).] A genus of leguminous plants, type of the tribe Loteæ, distinguished by a two-valved pod and the pointed keel of the corolla.
• noun In architecture, an ornament in the form of the Egyptian water-lily, Castalia mystica, frequently figured in the art of ancient nations, notably on certain types of the capitals of Egyptian columns.

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

• noun A name of several kinds of water lilies; as Nelumbium speciosum, used in religious ceremonies, anciently in Egypt, and to this day in Asia; Nelumbium luteum, the American lotus; and Nymphæa Lotus and Nymphæa cærulea, the respectively white-flowered and blue-flowered lotus of modern Egypt, which, with Nelumbium speciosum, are figured on its ancient monuments.
• noun The lotus of the lotuseaters, probably a tree found in Northern Africa, Sicily, Portugal, and Spain (Zizyphus Lotus), the fruit of which is mildly sweet. It was fabled by the ancients to make strangers who ate of it forget their native country, or lose all desire to return to it.
• noun The lote, or nettle tree. See lote.
• noun A genus (Lotus) of leguminous plants much resembling clover.
• noun a small tree (Diospyros Lotus) of Southern Europe and Asia; also, its rather large bluish black berry, which is called also the date plum.
• noun (Arch.) An ornament much used in Egyptian architecture, generally asserted to have been suggested by the Egyptian water lily.

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

• noun A kind of aquatic plant, genus Nelumbo in the family Nelumbonaceae.
• noun A water lily, genus Nymphaea, especially those of Egypt or India.
• noun A legendary plant eaten by the Lotophagi of the Odyssey that caused drowsiness and euphoria.
• noun A number of other plants bearing "lotus" in their scientific or common names.
• noun An architectural motif of ancient Egyptian temples.

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

• noun white Egyptian lotus: water lily of Egypt to southeastern Africa; held sacred by the Egyptians
• noun native to eastern Asia; widely cultivated for its large pink or white flowers
• noun annual or perennial herbs or subshrubs