Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun Any of several species of iris having a fragrant rootstock, especially Iris pallida and cultivars of the hybrid species I. ×germanica.
- noun The fragrant rootstock of an orris, used chiefly in perfumes.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A plant from which orris-root is obtained. Also
orrice . - noun A name given to laces of varied design in gold and silver.
- noun Galloon and gimp used in upholstery.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun A sort of gold or silver lace.
- noun A peculiar pattern in which gold lace or silver lace is worked; especially, one in which the edges are ornamented with conical figures placed at equal distances, with spots between them.
- noun (Bot.) A plant of the genus Iris (
Iris Florentina ); a kind of flower-de-luce. Its rootstock has an odor resembling that of violets. - noun (Med.) an issue pea made from orris root.
- noun the fragrant rootstock of the orris.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun Any of several
irises that have afragrant root , especially Iris germanica (variety florentina). - noun The fragrant root of such an iris; the orris root.
- noun A type of
gold orsilver lace . - noun A
pattern in which gold lace or silver lace is worked, especially one in which theedges areornamented withconical figures placed at equal distances, with spots between them.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun German iris having large white flowers with lavender-tinged falls and a fragrant rhizome
- noun fragrant rootstock of various irises especially Florentine iris; used in perfumes and medicines
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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Then the delectable, creamy blend of vanilla, heliotrope and orris, which is like a layer of dark-golden nougat ...
Archive 2008-07-01 Marina Geigert 2008
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Then the delectable, creamy blend of vanilla, heliotrope and orris, which is like a layer of dark-golden nougat ...
Perfume Review: Molinard Habanita Marina Geigert 2008
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When I use violet flower note in my perfumes, it is a compound made if various oils that are rich in ionone - such as orris root, violet leaf absolute, boronia along with other floral oils or absolutes to round off the accord and give it a soft flowery impression.
Archive 2006-03-01 Ayala Sender 2006
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But no orris root really fascinated and excited me as much as a particular batch I received from Eden Botanical: Beurre d’Iris aka orris butter -which really is the essential oil, but with a consistency of crumbly butter or powdery wax.
Archive 2008-10-01 Ayala Sender 2008
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But no orris root really fascinated and excited me as much as a particular batch I received from Eden Botanical: Beurre d’Iris aka orris butter -which really is the essential oil, but with a consistency of crumbly butter or powdery wax.
Orchid, Pudding, Perfume: The Sahleb Story Ayala Sender 2008
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It looks as though we may have lost the rhubarb plants completely to the winter, but the orris root irises are coming up, as well as the very tenacious lemon balm.
Day in the Life of an Idiot lyda222 2009
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And it was then a matter of experimenting with the botanicals – Macedonian juniper berries, Bulgarian coriander seed, French angelica root, Spanish liquorice root, Italian orris root, Spanish ground almond, Chinese cassia bark, Madagascan cinnamon, and Spanish orange peel and lemon peel – and designing the still.
Best UK Newcomer 2010: Sipsmith distillers Carole Cadwalladr 2010
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To prolong the potpourri's scent, use a fixative—a powdered root like orris or angelica, available at herbco.com .
A New Whiff on Potpourri William L. Hamilton 2011
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In order to create a unique taste, Jared Brown went through a raft of historical recipes from the 1,000-drinks-book library at his home in Gloucestershire, and started experimenting with ingredients such as Italian orris root and Chinese cassia bark.
An Adventurous Spirit Will Lyons 2011
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For his new fragrance, he explodes the notion of a shrinking violet with a lavish list of fancy floral notes like violet leaf, ultra-rare Tuscan orris root and a touch of benzoin and musk. $100, saks.com
Naughty and Nice Sameer Reddy 2011
arby commented on the word orris
Short for "orris root", aka iris. I did not know this but apparently it's used to make gin, most famously Bombay Sapphire. At least, so says this unsourced Wikipedia article.
July 25, 2007
reesetee commented on the word orris
It's also a gold or silver braid. :-)
I didn't realize the words orris and iris were related.
July 25, 2007