heliotrope

[ hee-lee-uh-trohp, heel-yuh- or, especially British, hel-yuh- ]
See synonyms for heliotrope on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. any hairy plant belonging to the genus Heliotropium, of the borage family, as H. arborescens, cultivated for its small, fragrant purple flowers.

  2. any of various other plants, as the valerian or the winter heliotrope.

  1. any plant that turns toward the sun.

  2. a light tint of purple; reddish lavender.

  3. Surveying. an arrangement of mirrors for reflecting sunlight from a distant point to an observation station.

Origin of heliotrope

1
1580–90; <Middle French héliotrope<Latin hēliotropium<Greek hēliotrópion (see helio-, -trope); compare Middle English elitropium, elitropius,Old English eliotropus<Medieval Latin

Words Nearby heliotrope

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use heliotrope in a sentence

  • Delicate, refined, perfectly poised, and Kitty beside her like a sunflower to a sprig of heliotrope!

  • Was this garden, which was all white, in any way connected with the sunbeams and heliotrope?

    Scottish Ghost Stories | Elliott O'Donnell
  • heliotrope is the name of the scent, my dear, but please do not allude to it again.

    Scottish Ghost Stories | Elliott O'Donnell
  • The coat, hanging open, displayed a soft shirt of no uncertain shade of heliotrope.

    Left Tackle Thayer | Ralph Henry Barbour
  • It was the heliotrope or Solsequium or Turnesol of our forefathers, and is the flower often alluded to under that name.

British Dictionary definitions for heliotrope

heliotrope

/ (ˈhiːlɪəˌtrəʊp, ˈhɛljə-) /


noun
  1. any boraginaceous plant of the genus Heliotropium, esp the South American H. arborescens, cultivated for its small fragrant purple flowers

  2. garden heliotrope a widely cultivated valerian, Valeriana officinalis, with clusters of small pink, purple, or white flowers

  1. any of various plants that turn towards the sun

    • a bluish-violet to purple colour

    • (as adjective): a heliotrope dress

  2. an instrument used in geodetic surveying employing the sun's rays reflected by a mirror as a signal for the sighting of stations over long distances

  3. another name for bloodstone

Origin of heliotrope

1
C17: from Latin hēliotropium, from Greek hēliotropion, from hēlios sun + trepein to turn

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012