Wiktionary

heliotrope

See also: héliotrope

English edit

WOTD – 12 July 2023

Etymology edit

PIE word
*sóh₂wl̥
 
The purple scented flowers of the common heliotrope (Heliotropium arborescens; sense 1.1).
 
A c. 1878 photograph of a surveying of a heliotrope (sense 4).[n 1]
 
A heliotrope (sense 6) or bloodstone.

The noun is borrowed from French héliotrope, from Latin hēliotropium (“plant which turns to face the sun; bloodstone”), from Ancient Greek ἡλῐοτρόπῐον (hēliotrópion, “European heliotrope (Heliotropium europaeum); bloodstone; solar clock, sundial”), from ἥλῐος (hḗlios, “the sun”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *sóh₂wl̥ (“the sun”)) + τρόπος (trópos, “a turn”) (from τρέπω (trépō, “to rotate; to turn”) (from Proto-Indo-European *trep- (“to turn”)) + -ος (-os, suffix forming nouns from verbs)) + -ῐον (-ion, diminutive suffix forming nouns).[1]

The French-derived spelling displaced Middle English elitrope, eliotropius, elitropium (“plant which turns to face the sun; bloodstone”) [and other forms],[2] from Old English eliotropus, from Latin hēliotropium (see above); and Old English siġelhweorfa, sōlsece, and sunnfolgend (“heliotrope flower”).

Sense 6 (“synonym of bloodstone”) is from the fact that a piece of the mineral placed in water is said to change the sun’s rays to a blood-red colour: see the 1601 quotation.[1]

The adjective is probably derived from the noun.

Pronunciation edit

Noun edit

heliotrope (countable and uncountable, plural heliotropes)

  1. (countable, botany, also figuratively) A plant with flowers which turn to face and follow the sun, such as (archaic) marigolds and sunflowers.
    Synonyms: (obsolete) heliotropian, turnsole
    2. (specifically) A plant of the genus Heliotropium, especially the common heliotrope (Heliotropium arborescens) which has clusters of purple flowers with a strong fragrance.
      Synonyms: cherry pie, garden heliotrope
    3. With a qualifying word: any of various plants resembling those of the genus Heliotropium.
  2. (uncountable) The fragrance of Heliotropium arborescens flowers, or a scent resembling this fragrance.
  3. (uncountable) A light purple or violet colour like that of Heliotropium arborescens flowers.
    heliotrope:  
    • 2006, Thomas Pynchon, “Bilocations”, in Against the Day, New York, N.Y.: Penguin Press, →ISBN, page 623:
      Kit woke to see looming over him the face of Dr. Willi Dingkopf, framed by a haircut in violation of more than one law of physics, and a vivid necktie in fuchsia, heliotrope, and duck green, a gift from one of the patients, […]
  5. (countable) An instrument that uses a mirror to reflect sunlight for purposes such as signalling, or (surveying) triangulation (where the reflected light is detected by another surveyor positioned some distance away).
    (signalling): Synonym: (dated) sematrope
    (surveying): Synonym: helio
  6. (countable, historical) An ancient type of sundial consisting of a bowl with a perpendicular gnomon mounted in the centre.
  8. (countable, uncountable, mineralogy) Synonym of bloodstone (“a green chalcedony that is sprinkled with red spots or veins of hematite”)

Hyponyms edit

Derived terms edit

Related terms edit

Translations edit

ancient type of sundial — see sundial
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

See also edit

Adjective edit

heliotrope (comparative more heliotrope, superlative most heliotrope)

  1. Of a light purple or violet colour like that of Heliotropium arborescens flowers.
    • 1904, Jerome K[lapka] Jerome, “Story the Sixth: ‘The Babe’ Applies for Shares”, in Tommy and Co., 1st Canadian edition, Toronto, Ont.: Langton and Hall, →OCLC, page 232:
      "Lady in a heliotrope dress with a lace collar, three flounces on the skirt?" / "That's right, Mr. Bennett," agreed old Goslin. / "It's the Babe himself!" asserted Harry Bennett.
    • 1917 January, Zane Grey, chapter VI, in Wildfire, New York, N.Y., London: Harper & Brothers, →OCLC, page 78:
      There was a ten-mile stretch of level ground, blown hard as rock, from which the sustenance had been bleached, for not a spear of grass grew there. And following that was a tortuous passage through a weird region of clay dunes, blue and violet and heliotrope and lavender, all worn smooth by rain and wind.

Derived terms edit

Translations edit

Notes edit

  1. ^ From the B. A. Colonna collection, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S.A.

References edit

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Compare “heliotrope, n.”, in OED Online  ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, March 2023; “heliotrope, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
  2. ^ “elitrōpe, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Further reading edit

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