Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A European perennial herb (Alkanna tinctoria) having cymes of blue flowers and red roots.
- noun The root of this plant or the red dye extracted from the root.
- noun Any of various hairy plants of the Eurasian genus Anchusa, having blue or violet flowers grouped on elongated cymes.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun The root of a boraginaceous herb, Alkanna (Anchusa) tinctoria, yielding a red dye, for which the plant is cultivated in central and southern Europe.
- noun The plant which yields the dye, Alkanna tinctoria. Also called
orcanet and Spanish bugloss. - noun A name of similar plants of other genera.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Chem.) A dyeing matter extracted from the roots of
Alkanna tinctoria , which gives a fine deep red color. - noun A boraginaceous herb (
Alkanna tinctoria ) yielding the dye; orchanet. - noun The similar plant
Anchusa officinalis ; bugloss; also, the American puccoon.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun Alkanna tinctoria, a
plant whoseroot is used as adye . - noun The dyeing matter extracted from the plant, giving a deep red colour.
- noun A
boraginaceous herb (Alkanna tinctoria) yielding a dye;orchanet . - noun The similar plant Anchusa officinalis;
bugloss . - noun The
American puccoon .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun perennial or biennial herb cultivated for its delicate usually blue flowers
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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It is prepared by precipitating an alcoholic extract of the root of the _Anchusa tinctoria_, commonly known as alkanet, a plant growing in the Levant, and some other warm countries.
Field's Chromatography or Treatise on Colours and Pigments as Used by Artists George Field
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Lit. “enamelled or painted with anchusa or alkanet,” a plant, the wild bugloss, whose root yields a red dye.
Oeconomicus 2007
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Another powder for the same ulcers: - The black chamaeleon, when prepared with the juice of the fig. It is to be prepared roasted, and alkanet mixed with it.
On Ulcers 2007
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"A wedding," said Cadfael seriously, stacking away jars of salves and bottles of lotion made from alkanet, anemone, mint, figwort, and the grains of oats and barley, most of them herbs of Venus and the moon, "a wedding is the crux of two lives, and therefore no mean matter."
The Leper of Saint Giles Peters, Ellis, 1913- 1981
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"A wedding," said Cadfael seriously, stacking away jars of salves and bottles of lotion made from alkanet, anemone, mint, figwort, and the grains of oats and barley, most of them herbs of Venus and the moon, "a wedding is the crux of two lives, and therefore no mean matter."
The Leper of Saint Giles Peters, Ellis, 1913- 1981
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= — Lard, twenty-six ounces; white wax, two ounces; nitre and alum in fine powder, of each one-half ounce; alkanet to color.
The Ladies Book of Useful Information Compiled from many sources Anonymous
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-- Castor oil, alcohol, each 1 pint; tinct. cantharides, 1 ounce; oil bergamot, 1/2 ounce; alkanet coloring, to color as wished.
The Handy Cyclopedia of Things Worth Knowing A Manual of Ready Reference Joseph Triemens
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The first group embraces logwood, orchil, alkanet, and aniline violets, including under the latter term
Scientific American Supplement, No. 363, December 16, 1882 Various
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She put divers herbs in it, herbs yielding coloured juices such as safflower and alkanet, and soapwort and fleawort to give consistency or 'body' to the lye; she put in alum and blue vitriol (or sulphate of copper), and she put in blood.
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= — One of the most powerful stimulants for the growth of the hair is the following: Take a quarter of an ounce of the chippings of alkanet root, tie in a scrap of coarse muslin, and suspend it in a jar containing eight ounces of sweet oil for a week, covering it from the dust.
The Ladies Book of Useful Information Compiled from many sources Anonymous
hernesheir commented on the word alkanet
US Railway Association, Standard Cipher Code, 1906: telegraphers' shorthand for "Why did you not agree?"
January 19, 2013
chained_bear commented on the word alkanet
Usage/historical note in comment on turnsole. Another can be found on blood of Venus.
January 8, 2017