mullein
English edit
Alternative forms edit
Etymology edit
From Middle English moleyne, from Anglo-Norman moleine, which is either a Celtic borrowing and derived from Proto-Celtic *melinos (“yellow”) from *meli (“honey”) – an adjective found in Breton melen (“yellow”) and Welsh melyn (“yellow”)[1] – or from mol (“soft”), from Latin mollis (“soft”), referencing the plant's fluffy, downy leaves, also apparent in synonyms such as feltwort, flannel leaf, and velvet plant.[2]
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
mullein (usually uncountable, plural mulleins)
- Any of a few hundred species of European and Asian plants, of the genus Verbascum, especially that majority that have yellow flowers. Some species have been introduced to other continents, where some are now seen as invasive pests. Some species, though far from all, have downy leaves, hence common names such as: "velvet plant". [from 14th c.]
- 1940, Rosetta E. Clarkson, Green Enchantments: The Magic Spell of Gardens, The Macmillan Company, page 267:
- As we all know, witches ride through the air on a broom, but sometimes their means of locomotion was a bulrush, a branch of thorn, mullein stalks, cornstalk, or ragweed, called fairies' horse in Ireland.
Synonyms edit
Hyponyms edit
- common mullein (Verbascum thapsus)
- Cretan mullein (Verbascum creticum)
- dark mullein (Verbascum nigrum)
- great mullein (Verbascum thapsus)
- hoary mullein (Verbascum pulverulentum)
- white mullein (Verbascum lychnitis)
- moth mullein (Verbascum blattaria)
- mullein foxglove (Dasistoma macrophylla, syn. Seymeria macrophylla)
- mullein pink (Silene coronaria, syn. Lychnis coronaria)
- mullein wave (Scopula marginepunctata)
- nettle-leaved mullein (Verbascum chaixii)
- orange mullein (Verbascum phlomoides)
- petty mullein (Primula veris)
- purple mullein (Verbascum phoeniceum)
- sage mullein, sageleaf mullein (Phlomis spp.)
- showy mullein (Verbascum speciosum)
- turkey mullein (Croton setiger, syn. Eremocarpus setiger)
- twiggy mullein (Verbascum virgatum)
- wavyleaf mullein Verbascum sinuatum)
- white mullein (Verbascum lychnitis)
- woolly mullein (Verbascum thapsus)
Translations edit
plants of the genus Verbascum
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References edit
- ^ Oxford English Dictionary, 1884–1928, and First Supplement, 1933.
- ^ “mullein”, in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th edition, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016, →ISBN.
Finnish edit
Noun edit
mullein