Dictionary
Thesaurus
Encyclopedia
Translator
Web

violet

 - 6 dictionary results

vi⋅o⋅let

[vahy-uh-lit]
–noun
1. any chiefly low, stemless or leafy-stemmed plant of the genus Viola, having purple, blue, yellow, white, or variegated flowers. Compare violet family.
2. any such plant except the pansy and the viola.
3. the flower of any native, wild species of violet, as distinguished from the pansy: the state flower of Illinois, New Jersey, and Rhode Island.
4. any of various similar plants of other genera.
5. reddish-blue, a color at the opposite end of the visible spectrum from red, an effect of light with a wavelength between 400 and 450 nm.
–adjective
6. of the color violet; reddish-blue: violet hats.

Origin:
1300–50; ME < OF violete, equiv. to viole (< L viola violet) + -ete -et

Vi⋅o⋅let

[vahy-uh-lit]
–noun
a female given name.
Also, Vi⋅o⋅lette [vahy-uh-let, vahy-uh-lit] , Vi⋅o⋅let⋅ta [vahy-uh-let-uh] .
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To violet
vi·o·let   (vī'ə-lĭt)   
n.  
    1. Any of various low-growing herbs of the genus Viola, having short-spurred, irregular flowers that are characteristically purplish-blue but sometimes yellow or white.

    2. Any of several similar plants, such as the African violet.

  1. The hue of the short-wave end of the visible spectrum, evoked in the human observer by radiant energy with wavelengths of approximately 380 to 420 nanometers; any of a group of colors, reddish-blue in hue, that may vary in lightness and saturation.


[Middle English, from Old French violete, diminutive of viole, from Latin viola.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Word Origin & History

violet 
c.1330, small plant with purplish-blue flowers, from O.Fr. violette, dim. of viole "violet," from L. viola, cognate with Gk. ion (see iodine), probably from a pre-I.E. Mediterranean language. The color sense (1370) developed from the flower.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
Medical Dictionary

violet vi·o·let (vī'ə-lĭt)
n.

  1. The hue of the short-wave end of the visible spectrum, evoked in the human observer by radiant energy with wavelengths of approximately 380 to 420 nanometers.

  2. Any of a group of colors, reddish-blue in hue, that may vary in lightness and saturation.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Cite This Source
Idioms & Phrases

violet

see shrinking violet.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
Cite This Source
Search another word or see violet on Thesaurus | Reference
FacebookTwitterFollow us: