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 A direct coal-tar color of the disazo type, derived from dianisidine. It dyes unmordanted cotton reddish violet in an alkaline salt bath.
- 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.
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