MYRTLE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does myrtle mean? 

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

1. widely cultivated as a groundcover for its dark green shiny leaves and usually blue-violet flowers

2. any evergreen shrub or tree of the genus Myrtus

  Familiarity information: MYRTLE used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• MYRTLE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Widely cultivated as a groundcover for its dark green shiny leaves and usually blue-violet flowers

Classified under:

Nouns denoting plants

Synonyms:

myrtle; Vinca minor

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

periwinkle (chiefly trailing poisonous plants with blue flowers)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Any evergreen shrub or tree of the genus Myrtus

Classified under:

Nouns denoting plants

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

angiospermous tree; flowering tree (any tree having seeds and ovules contained in the ovary)

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

common myrtle; Myrtus communis (European shrub with white or rosy flowers followed by black berries)

 Context examples 

It certainly may secure all the myrtle and turkey part of it.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

A tree that is a member of the myrtle family.

(Melaleuca alternifolia, NCI Dictionary)

A type of evergreen tree that is a member of the myrtle family.

(Eucalyptus, NCI Dictionary)

The other form of lemon myrtle oil is used in the production of citronella.

(Backhousia citriodora Leaf Oil, NCI Thesaurus)

Meg's had roses and heliotrope, myrtle, and a little orange tree in it.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

Myrtle leaf oil is taken internally for urinary infections, digestive problems, bronchial congestion, and dry coughs.

(Myrtle Leaf Oil, NCI Thesaurus)

Myrtle pulled her chair close to mine, and suddenly her warm breath poured over me the story of her first meeting with Tom.

(The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald)

Myrtle Wilson's body wrapped in a blanket and then in another blanket as though she suffered from a chill in the hot night lay on a work table by the wall and Tom, with his back to us, was bending over it, motionless.

(The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald)

Myrtle considered.

(The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald)