LOTUS

lotus, white lotus, Egyptian water lily, white lily, Nymphaea lotus

(noun) white Egyptian lotus: water lily of Egypt to southeastern Africa; held sacred by the Egyptians

lotus, Indian lotus, sacred lotus, Nelumbo nucifera

(noun) native to eastern Asia; widely cultivated for its large pink or white flowers

Lotus, genus Lotus

(noun) annual or perennial herbs or subshrubs

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology

Noun

lotus (plural lotuses or loti)

A kind of aquatic plant, genus Nelumbo in the family Nelumbonaceae.

A water lily, genus Nymphaea, especially those of Egypt or India.

A legendary plant eaten by the Lotophagi of the Odyssey that caused drowsiness and euphoria.

A number of other plants bearing lotus in their scientific or common names (see Derived terms below).

Diospyros lotus, date plum or Caucasian persimmon.

Lotus, a terrestrial genus with small flowers that includes bird's-foot trefoils and deervetches.

Ziziphus lotus, a shrub species with edible fruit.

An architectural motif of ancient Egyptian temples.

Anagrams

• louts, tolus

Proper noun

Lotus

A British manufacturer of cars.

Anagrams

• louts, tolus

Source: Wiktionary


Lo"tus, n. Etym: [L. lotus, Gr. Lote.]

1. (Bot.) (a) A name of several kinds of water lilies; as Nelumbium speciosum, used in religious ceremonies, anciently in Egypt, and to this day in Asia; Nelumbium luteum, the American lotus; and Nymphæa Lotus and N. cærulea, the respectively white-flowered and blue-flowered lotus of modern Egypt, which, with Nelumbium speciosum, are figured on its ancient monuments. (b) The lotus of the lotuseaters, probably a tree found in Northern Africa, Sicily, Portugal, and Spain (Zizyphus Lotus), the fruit of which is mildly sweet. It was fabled by the ancients to make strangers who ate of it forget their native country, or lose all desire to return to it. (c) The lote, or nettle tree. See Lote. (d) A genus (Lotus) of leguminous plants much resembling clover. [Written also lotos.] European lotus, a small tree (Diospyros Lotus) of Southern Europe and Asia; also, its rather large bluish black berry, which is called also the date plum.

2. (Arch.)

Definition: An ornament much used in Egyptian architecture, generally asserted to have been suggested by the Egyptian water lily.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

23 December 2024

QUANDONG

(noun) Australian tree having hard white timber and glossy green leaves with white flowers followed by one-seeded glossy blue fruit


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Coffee Trivia

Some 16th-century Italian clergymen tried to ban coffee because they believed it to be “satanic.” However, Pope Clement VII loved coffee so much that he lifted the ban and had coffee baptized in 1600.

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