Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun Any of several plants of the genus Heliotropium, especially H. arborescens, native to Peru and having small, highly fragrant purplish flowers.
- noun The garden heliotrope.
- noun Any of various plants that turn toward the sun.
- noun A moderate, light, or brilliant violet to moderate or deep reddish purple.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun In astronomy, an instrument for showing when the sun arrives at the solstitial points.
- noun A mirror arranged with a telescope and sights so as to flash a reflection of the sun to a great distance. The instrument is used in geodetic triangulation to mark a station. See
heliograph , 1. - noun A plant of the genus Heliotropium, of the natural order Boraginaceæ.
- noun The bluish-purple or pinkish-lilac color of some flowers of the heliotrope.
- noun A mineral, a subspecies of quartz, of a deep-green color, peculiarly pleasant to the eye.
- noun A direct coal-tar color of the disazo type, derived from dianisidine. It dyes unmordanted cotton reddish violet in an alkaline salt bath.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Anc. Astron.) An instrument or machine for showing when the sun arrived at the tropics and equinoctial line.
- noun (Bot.) A plant of the genus Heliotropium; -- called also
turnsole andgirasole .Heliotropium Peruvianum is the commonly cultivated species with fragrant flowers. - noun (Geodesy & Signal Service) An instrument for making signals to an observer at a distance, by means of the sun's rays thrown from a mirror.
- noun (Min.) See
Bloodstone (a). - noun a grayish purple color.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun botany A
plant thatturns so that it faces thesun . - noun botany Particularly, a
purple -flowered plant of the species Heliotropium arborescens. - noun A
light purple orviolet colour. - noun The
fragrance of heliotrope flowers. - noun mineralogy A
bloodstone (a variety ofquartz ). - noun surveying An
instrument , employed intriangulation , that uses amirror toreflect sunlight toward another, very distant,surveyor . - adjective Light
purple orviolet . - adjective Keeping one’s
face turned toward thesun .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun green chalcedony with red spots that resemble blood
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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The small aromatic flower which we call heliotrope, with its violet hue and delightful perfume, more nearly answers the description.
The Metamorphoses of Ovid Vol. I, Books I-VII 43 BC-18? Ovid 1847
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Deborah and I are very fond of it "-- here she sighed --" but for certain reasons -- reasons you would not understand -- we do not like to hear the word heliotrope mentioned.
Scottish Ghost Stories Elliott O'Donnell 1918
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It was marked out by something called heliotrope cyanosis.
American Chronicle 2009
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The purple-brown spots and smears, called heliotrope, on her eyelids.
Cynical Dad 2009
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It was marked out by something called heliotrope cyanosis.
American Chronicle 2009
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"I would create the smell of purity", he says, but instead of choosing predictable "pure" acquatic or ozonic notes, the perfumer opts for the ingredients that would evoke "the color white": "I would use powdery floral notes such as heliotrope, but it would also be spicy, and have iris, also violets and woods.
Archive 2007-08-01 Marina Geigert 2007
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City, green giant heliotrope of hoop skirt, one helluva azimuth shadow, solar eclipse.
Peter Graves Is A Mad, Mad March Blimp Captain Dennis Mahagin 2011
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Local riverside walks have shown daisies growing, along with winter heliotrope often found near streams.
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I saw a picture in a book last fall of someone in California who had grown a heliotrope plant for several years and pruned it as a standard.
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I saw a picture in a book last fall of someone in California who had grown a heliotrope plant for several years and pruned it as a standard.
Can you smell that heliotrope? « Sugar Creek Gardens’ Blog 2009
chained_bear commented on the word heliotrope
In the eighteenth century, a common garden herb or shrub with small, clustered, purple flowers, widely cultivated for its fragrance.
February 6, 2007
knitandpurl commented on the word heliotrope
and a picture
October 15, 2008
chained_bear commented on the word heliotrope
Usage/historical note in comment on turnsole.
January 8, 2017