lotus
UK /ˈləʊtəs/ · US /ˈloʊtəs/ noun, proper noun
Forms lotuses loti lotos
- noun Any member of the genus Nelumbo of aquatic plants in the family Nelumbonaceae.
- noun A water lily (Nymphaea), especially those of Egypt or India.
- noun A legendary plant eaten by the Lotophagi of the Odyssey that caused drowsiness and euphoria.
- noun A date plum or Caucasian persimmon (Diospyros lotus).
- noun Any member of the genus Lotus, a terrestrial genus with small flowers that includes bird's-foot trefoils and deervetches.
- noun A lotustree or lotus jujube (Ziziphus lotus), a shrub with edible fruit.
- noun An architectural motif of ancient Egyptian temples.
- proper noun A British manufacturer of cars.
- proper noun An unincorporated community in El Dorado County, California. Former names: Marshall and Uniontown.
- proper noun An unincorporated community and former village on Merritt Island, Brevard County, Florida.
- proper noun An unincorporated community in Union County, Indiana.
- proper noun An unincorporated community in Bullitt County, Kentucky.
Synonyms
Indian lotus sacred lotus Nelumbo nucifera genus Lotus white lotus Egyptian water lily white lily Nymphaea lotus
Etymology
Unadapted borrowing from Latin lōtus, from Ancient Greek λωτός (lōtós). Doublet of lote. First attested in the 1540s. Ultimately from Hebrew לוֹט (lōṭ, “myrrh”, literally “covering, envelope”).
Webster’s 1913
- noun (a) A name of several kinds of water lilies; as Nelumbium speciosum, used in religious ceremonies, anciently in Egypt, and to this day in Asia; Nelumbium luteum, the American lotus; and Nymphæa Lotus and N. cærulea, the respectively white-flowered and blue-flowered lotus of modern Egypt, which, with Nelumbium speciosum, are figured on its ancient monuments.
- noun An ornament much used in Egyptian architecture, generally asserted to have been suggested by the Egyptian water lily.
Etymology [L. lotus, Gr. Lote.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “lotus”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details