WOAD

woad

(noun) any of several herbs of the genus Isatis

woad

(noun) a blue dyestuff obtained from the woad plant

Source: WordNet® 3.1

Etymology

Noun

woad (usually uncountable, plural woads)

(countable) The plant Isatis tinctoria.

(countable and uncountable) The blue dye made from the leaves of the plant.

Synonyms

• (the plant): glastum, Isatis tinctoria

• (the blue dye): indigo, indigotin

Verb

woad (third-person singular simple present woads, present participle woading, simple past and past participle woaded)

To plant or cultivate woad.

To dye with woad.

Source: Wiktionary

Woad, n. Etym: [OE. wod, AS. wad; akin to D. weede, G. waid, OHG. weit, Dan. vaid, veid, Sw. veide, L. vitrum.] [Written also wad, and wade.]

1. (Bot.)

Definition: An herbaceous cruciferous plant (Isatis tinctoria). It was formerly cultivated for the blue coloring matter derived from its leaves.

2. A blue dyestuff, or coloring matter, consisting of the powdered and fermented leaves of the Isatis tinctoria. It is now superseded by indigo, but is somewhat used with indigo as a ferment in dyeing. Their bodies . . . painted with woad in sundry figures. Milton. Wild woad (Bot.), the weld (Reseda luteola). See Weld.

– Woad mill, a mill grinding and preparing woad.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition