LAVENDER

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does lavender mean? 

• LAVENDER (noun)
  The noun LAVENDER has 2 senses:

1. any of various Old World aromatic shrubs or subshrubs with usually mauve or blue flowers; widely cultivated

2. a pale purple color

  Familiarity information: LAVENDER used as a noun is rare.

• LAVENDER (adjective)
  The adjective LAVENDER has 1 sense:

1. of a pale purple color

  Familiarity information: LAVENDER used as an adjective is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• LAVENDER (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Any of various Old World aromatic shrubs or subshrubs with usually mauve or blue flowers; widely cultivated

Classified under:

Nouns denoting plants

Hypernyms ("lavender" is a kind of...):

bush; shrub (a low woody perennial plant usually having several major stems)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "lavender"):

English lavender; Lavandula angustifolia; Lavandula officinalis (aromatic Mediterranean shrub widely cultivated for its lilac flowers which are dried and used in sachets)

French lavender; Lavandula stoechas (shrubby greyish lavender of southwestern Europe having usually reddish-purple flowers)

French lavender; Lavandula latifolia; spike lavender (Mediterranean plant with pale purple flowers that yields spike lavender oil)

Holonyms ("lavender" is a member of...):

genus Lavandula; Lavandula (lavender)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A pale purple color

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Hypernyms ("lavender" is a kind of...):

purple; purpleness (a purple color or pigment)

• LAVENDER (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Of a pale purple color

Synonyms:

lavender; lilac; lilac-colored

Similar:

chromatic (being or having or characterized by hue)

 Context examples 

Yet, the smell of a Yahoo continuing very offensive, I always keep my nose well stopped with rue, lavender, or tobacco leaves.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

Also called lavender and true lavender.

(English lavender, NCI Dictionary)

Perillyl alcohol, a substance found in lavender, is being studied in cancer prevention and treatment.

(Lavandula angustifolia, NCI Thesaurus)

Yes, I want some twilled silesia, a paper of number nine needles, and two yards of narrow lavender ribbon.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

But he says that he will be here next week, and this is Thursday, and the best curtains unhung, and no lavender in the sheets!

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Some lavender drops, however, which she was at length persuaded to take, were of use; and from that time till Mrs. Jennings returned, she continued on the bed quiet and motionless.

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)

But in dancing, their duties are exactly changed; the agreeableness, the compliance are expected from him, while she furnishes the fan and the lavender water.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

Lavender oil is used primarily for its aromatic properties in parfumery, aromatherapy, skincare products, and other consumer products.

(Lavender Oil, NCI Thesaurus)

Also called English lavender and true lavender.

(Lavender, NCI Dictionary)

Her dress was of a lavender colour, and perfectly neat; but scantily made, as if she desired to be as little encumbered as possible.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)