myrtle
any plant of the genus Myrtus, especially M. communis, a shrub of southern Europe having evergreen leaves, fragrant white flowers, and aromatic berries: anciently held sacred to Venus and used as an emblem of love.: Compare myrtle family.
any of certain unrelated plants, as the periwinkle, Vinca minor, and California laurel, Umbellularia californica.
Also called myr·tle·wood [mur-tl-wood]. /ˈmɜr tlˌwʊd/. the hard, golden-brown wood of the California laurel.
Also called myrtle green . dark green with bluish tinge.
Origin of myrtle
1Other definitions for Myrtle (2 of 2)
a female given name.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use myrtle in a sentence
She wore a grey woolly shoulder-shawl and myrtle-green hair—I suppose something had gone wrong with the brown hair-restorer.
Miss Million's Maid | Bertha RuckMillion raised her voice incautiously, and the myrtle-green-haired lady glanced around.
Miss Million's Maid | Bertha Ruck
British Dictionary definitions for myrtle
/ (ˈmɜːtəl) /
any evergreen shrub or tree of the myrtaceous genus Myrtus, esp M. communis, a S European shrub with pink or white flowers and aromatic blue-black berries
short for crape myrtle
bog myrtle: another name for sweet gale
creeping myrtle or trailing myrtle US and Canadian another name for periwinkle 2 (def. 1)
Origin of myrtle
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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