Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun Any of several plants of the genus Tanacetum of the composite family, especially T. vulgare, native to Eurasia, having corymbs of buttonlike yellow flower heads and aromatic, finely divided leaves that are sometimes used medicinally.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A perennial herb, Tanacetum vulgare, a stout erect plant 2 or 3 feet high, with pinnate cuttoothed leaves, and yellow ray-less heads in a terminal corymb.
- noun One of several plants with somewhat similar leaves, as the milfoil, Achillea Millefolium, the silverweed (also
goose-tansy ), and the ragwort, Senecio Jacobæa. See the phrases below. - noun A pudding or cake made with eggs, cream, sugar, rose-water, and the juice of tansy, to which that of spinach, sorrel, or other herbs was sometimes added.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Bot.) Any plant of the composite genus Tanacetum. The common tansy (
Tanacetum vulgare ) has finely divided leaves, a strong aromatic odor, and a very bitter taste. It is used for medicinal and culinary purposes. - noun obsolete A dish common in the seventeenth century, made of eggs, sugar, rose water, cream, and the juice of herbs, baked with butter in a shallow dish.
- noun (Bot.) a variety of the common tansy with the leaves more dissected than usual.
- noun (Bot.) a plant (
Sisymbrium canescens ) of the Mustard family, with tansylike leaves.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A herbaceous plant with
yellow flowers , of thegenus Tanacetum , especially Tanacetum vulgare. - noun uncountable, obsolete A dish common in the seventeenth century, made of
eggs ,sugar ,rose water ,cream , and the juice of herbs (including tansy), baked with butter in a shallow dish.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun common perennial aromatic herb native to Eurasia having buttonlike yellow flower heads and bitter-tasting pinnate leaves sometimes used medicinally
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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I remark on the pungent foliage, and smartly share my knowledge that the word tansy comes from the French word for “nose-twister.”
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Besides that, there flourished some tufts of velvety grass, some scattered reeds, two plants of the yellow herb called tansy, four of a red flower, and a pretty white one; but the treasures of the rock consisted of three roots of garlic, which Maie had put in a cleft.
The Lilac Fairy Book 2003
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Besides that, there flourished some tufts of velvety grass, some scattered reeds, two plants of the yellow herb called tansy, four of a red flower, and a pretty white one; but the treasures of the rock consisted of three roots of garlic, which Maie had put in a cleft.
The Lilac Fairy Book Andrew Lang 1878
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Besides that, there flourished some tufts of velvety grass, some scattered reeds, two plants of the yellow herb called tansy, four of a red flower, and a pretty white one; but the treasures of the rock consisted of three roots of garlic, which Maie had put in a cleft.
The Lilac Fairy Book Andrew Lang 1878
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People throughout Western Washington are reporting unusual numbers of a poisonous weed called tansy ragwort.
The Seattle Times 2011
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BREMERTON - People throughout Western Washington are reporting unusual numbers of a poisonous weed called tansy ragwort.
The Seattle Times 2011
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Hoster is saying "tansy" on his deathbed because he regrets what he did to Lysa and is possibly one of the reasons Lysa left Riverrun and never returned.
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Spring is the season for wild garlic, wild asparagus, morels and wood sorrel, chickweed, tansy and more, so it's the perfect time to learn how to forage for herbs and other plants.
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She says a plant is fernleaf yarrow, I say it's tansy.
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As heady as the fragrance of crushed tansy came the steady honking of grey geese announcing their return.
Raven Speak Diane Lee Wilson 2010
treeseed commented on the word tansy
My Heart, Being Hungry
My heart, being hungry, feeds on food
The fat of heart despise.
Beauty where beauty never stood,
And sweet where no sweet lies
I gather to my querulous need,
Having a growing heart to feed.
It may be, when my heart is full,
Having attained its girth,
I shall not find so beautiful
The meagre shapes of earth,
Nor linger in the rain to mark
The smell of tansy through the dark.
_Edna St. Vincent Millay
January 25, 2008
mollusque commented on the word tansy
One day she appeared at the schoolhouse itself, partly out of amused curiosity about my industries; but she explained that there was no tansy in the neighborhood with such snap to it as some that grew about the schoolhouse lot. Being scuffed down all the spring made it grow so much the better, like some folks that had it hard in their youth, and were bound to make the most of themselves before they died.
--Sarah Orne Jewett, 1896, The Country of the Pointed Firs
December 18, 2009
madmouth commented on the word tansy
a word more beautiful than what it describes (as far as flowers go, anyway)
December 18, 2009
yarb commented on the word tansy
It's a pansy with tang.
December 19, 2009
chained_bear commented on the word tansy
Usage on emmenagogue and another on dauco.
January 19, 2010
chained_bear commented on the word tansy
Another usage/historical note in comment on erbolat.
January 8, 2017