Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. Any of several herbs of the genus Digitalis, especially D. purpurea of Europe, having a long cluster of large, tubular, pinkish-purple flowers and leaves that are the source of the drug digitalis.
- n. Any of several related plants.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A common ornamental flowering plant of gardens, Digitalis purpurea, a native of Europe, where it is found in hilly and especially rocky subalpine localities. It has large tubular-campanulate flowers in long terminal racemes, and is one of the most stately and beautiful of European plants. The flowers are purple or sometimes white or rose-colored. The plant has valuable medicinal properties as a sedative and diuretic. See
Digitalis . - n. The name in Jamaica of species of Phytolacca.
- n. One of several plants of other genera.
- n. The pitcher-plant, Sarracenia purpurea.
- n. The trumpet-creeper, Campsis radicans.
Wiktionary
- n. botany Digitalis, a genus of about 20 species of herbaceous biennials native to the Old World, certain of which are prized for their showy flowers. The drug digitalis or digoxin was first isolated from the plant.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. (Bot.) Any plant of the genus Digitalis. The common English foxglove (Digitalis purpurea) is a handsome perennial or biennial plant, whose leaves are used as a powerful medicine, both as a sedative and diuretic. See digitalis.
WordNet 3.0
- n. any of several plants of the genus Digitalis
Etymologies
- From fox + glove. (Wiktionary)
- From the resemblance of its flowers to the fingers of a glove. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“I love columbine and foxglove is one of my favourite wild flowers.”
“The name foxglove is a corruption of the term folk’s glove, meaning the wee folk, one of the many monikers given to the fairies over the ages.”
“The foxglove, which is guilty of only sly, petty larceny, wears not the equivalent of the striped suit and the shaved head; nor does the mistletoe, which steals crude food from the tree, but still digests it itself, and is therefore only a dingy yellowish green.”
“Brangwyn's clever treatment of zoölogical and botanical detail is well shown in flowers in the foreground, such as foxglove and freesia, and the graceful forms of a pair of pinkish flamingoes.”
“During our ride we found also a yellow kind of foxglove, and some pretty little wild flowers.”
“Other plants, such as foxglove or the opium poppy, can have strong effects in humans if the whole plant is eaten, or a simple tea is prepared from them.”
“A WildLands Seed Team collects and catalogs plants with names like blazing star, orange puccoon, squaw weed and eared false foxglove.”
The Huffington Post: Pam Grout: The Little Hope For The Prairie
“That goes for the author of this headline, too. foxglove”
“Note—Peg told me that several days ago the queen miscarried; they eased her pain with mugwort and foxglove, and she is now recovering.”
“I think the water droplets on the foxglove are well balanced!!!!!”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘foxglove’.
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Flora
Flowers and plants have some of the most beautiful names.
These are often the common names, as opposed to the scientific or botanical names.daffodil, gardenia, tulip, snapdragon, violet, orchid, bleeding heart, daisy, lily, lilac, narcissus, rose and 278 more...
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Buttery
Words that make me feel cozy
Feather, Mug, Knit, Socks, Snug, Soft, Butter, Nugget, Noodle, Curl, Billow, Lounge and 315 more...
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If-Christ-Had-Not-Died-For-Thee-Thou-...
Words that have been used as baby names, including virtue names, nature names, place names, etc.
The title is an actual name given to a Puritan boy in the 17th century.faith, hope, grace, charity, chastity, prudence, patience, temperance, river, phoenix, stone, violet and 455 more...
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imogen's Words
coagitate, cloche, harum-scarum, foxglove, cryptolect, cant, roux, angora, duff, ulysse, schadenfreude, pepperpot and 315 more...
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Flora
fenugreek, verbena, saxifrage, arbutus, calendula, nasturtium, lobelia, hellebore, rhododendron, philodendron, bellflower, heuchera and 449 more...
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the gardener and apothecary's
bryony, chamomile, frond, sweet bay, laurel, monkshood, henbane, hemlock, parsley, rosemary, thyme, lady's mantle and 140 more...
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Words Covered in Faery Dust (F)
words that evoke magic, mystery, mayhem, magnificence or anything else that glimmers in the grass
faery, fairy cross, fairy ring, falcon, fare-thee-well, farewell-summer, farthing, faun, fawn, felicitous, felicity, fencing and 109 more...
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NakedFringe's Words
masticate, chamber, orchid, mandolin, yellow, pomegranate, conundrum, paradox, gyrate, calamitous, opalescent, cacophony and 533 more...
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sionnach's Words
contumely, fomite, holmgang, poltroon, eleemosynary, obsidian, nugatory, grindcore, felch, recrudescent, pyx, parenteral and 3271 more...
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Some Words I Love to Use
arcology, strumpet, crux, confected, pedant, bluestocking, cogitation, incensed, lovecraftian, cygnet, dactyl, adytum and 539 more...
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a modern herbal
mugwort, horehound, hellebore, chamomile, comfrey, rosemary, calendula, rose, lavender, lamb's quarters, gamboge, mustard and 108 more...
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Clearinghouse
For stuff to simply reside.
calcar, pinion, espadrille, antipodes, peregrine, cormorant, tanager, vireo, farrago, undervest, passerine, oscine and 881 more...
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The Decemberists
The Decemberists tend to use a lot of interesting words in their songs.
parapet, wastrel, mescaline, indolent, balustrade, vagabond, sprightly, grapple, gunwale, odalisque, timberline, moribund and 116 more...
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✿
adamantine, almond, alpenglow, amaranth, amaranthine, amaretto, amarelle, amethyst, anacampserote, ampersand, andromeda, anemone and 153 more...
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noele's list
vertiginous, verdant, mellifluous, serpentine, verdigris, traject, amaranthine, luminous, phosphorescent, temerous, cerulean, shapeshifter and 531 more...
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barnaby's Words
coccyx, procrastination, bollocks, mufti, meme, paraphernalia, endomorph, millpond, cheesecake, pterodactyl, cheesecloth, ethnographic and 34 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for foxglove.
chained_bear *still loves the idea of foxes wearing little dainty gloves* Nov 28, 2008
sionnach
I only wear my gloves on formal occasions, such as when doing laundry or raiding the chicken-coop. Have to maintain deniability, and avoid leaving little incriminating vulpine pawprints.
Obviously, the above paragraph is the work of a malicious hacker. I don't even like tuna of the yard. I am an innocent woodland creature whose good name is being besmirched. It's probably some kind of Sardinian-marsupial yazuka that is out to get me.
Innocent, I tell you! Nov 28, 2008
chained_bear I love the idea of foxes wearing little dainty gloves. *cute overload* Jul 3, 2008
reesetee Yikes! Jul 3, 2008
yarb I remember my sister eating foxgloves once and having to go to hospital. Jul 3, 2008
qroqqa The name of this flower is straightforwardly from what it looks like: fox + glove. It occurs in Old English as foxes glofa and foxes clofe, and c. 1265 as foxesgloue. These clearly show (i) no /l/, and (ii) the /s/ of the genitive distinct from the /s/ of the root 'fox'.
At this time the /l/ was still pronounced in 'folk'. The folk etymology "folks glove" could only be made after the /l/ had been lost.
Its genus Digitalis was recently moved by APG II from family Scrophulariaceae into Plantaginaceae. Jul 3, 2008
treeseed Name from "folks glove"...The Folk being a respectful term for fairies Feb 17, 2008