heliotrope
UK /ˈhiː.li.ə.tɹəʊp/ · US /ˈhi.li.əˌtɹoʊp/ noun, adjective
Forms heliotropes
- noun (countable, botany, also figuratively) A plant with flowers which turn to face and follow the sun, such as (archaic) marigolds and sunflowers.
- noun (specifically) A plant of the genus Heliotropium, especially a common heliotrope (Heliotropium arborescens), which has clusters of purple flowers with a strong fragrance.
- noun With a qualifying word: any of various plants resembling those of the genus Heliotropium.
- noun (uncountable) The fragrance of Heliotropium arborescens flowers, or a scent resembling this fragrance.
- noun (uncountable) A light purple or violet colour like that of Heliotropium arborescens flowers.
- noun (countable) An instrument that uses a mirror to reflect sunlight for purposes such as signalling, or (surveying) triangulation (where the reflected light is detected by another surveyor positioned some distance away).
- noun (countable, historical) An ancient type of sundial consisting of a bowl with a perpendicular gnomon mounted in the centre.
- noun (countable, uncountable, mineralogy) Synonym of bloodstone (“a green chalcedony that is sprinkled with red spots or veins of hematite”).
- adjective Of a light purple or violet colour like that of Heliotropium arborescens flowers.
Synonyms
heliotropian turnsole cherry pie garden heliotrope sematrope helio bloodstone
Etymology
The noun is borrowed from French héliotrope, from Latin hēliotropium (“plant which turns to face the sun; bloodstone”), from Ancient Greek ἡλῐοτρόπῐον (hēlĭotrópĭon, “European heliotrope (Heliotropium europaeum); bloodstone; solar clock, sundial”), from ἥλῐος (hḗlĭos, “the sun”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *sóh₂wl̥ (“the sun”)) + τρόπος (trópos, “a turn”) (from τρέπω (trépō, “to rotate; to turn”) (from Proto-Indo-European *trep- (“to turn”)) + -ος (-os, suffix forming nouns from verbs)) + -ῐον (-ĭon, diminutive suffix forming nouns). By surface analysis, helio- + -trope.
The French-derived spelling displaced Middle English elitrope, eliotropius, elitropium (“plant which turns to face the sun; bloodstone”) [and other forms], from Old English eliotropus, from Latin hēliotropium (see above); and Old English siġelhweorfa, sōlsece, and sunnfolgend (“heliotrope flower”).
Noun sense 6 (“synonym of bloodstone”) is from the fact that a piece of the mineral placed in water is said to change the sun’s rays to a blood-red colour: see the 1601 quotation.
The adjective is probably derived from the noun.
Webster’s 1913
- noun An instrument or machine for showing when the sun arrived at the tropics and equinoctial line.
- noun A plant of the genus Heliotropium; --called also turnsole and girasole. H. Peruvianum is the commonly cultivated species with fragrant flowers.
Etymology [F. héliotrope, L. heliotropium, Gr. Heliacal, Trope.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “heliotrope”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details