'Lotus' definitions:

Definition of 'lotus'

From: WordNet
noun
Native to eastern Asia; widely cultivated for its large pink or white flowers [syn: lotus, Indian lotus, sacred lotus, Nelumbo nucifera]
noun
Annual or perennial herbs or subshrubs [syn: Lotus, genus Lotus]
noun
White Egyptian lotus: water lily of Egypt to southeastern Africa; held sacred by the Egyptians [syn: lotus, white lotus, Egyptian water lily, white lily, Nymphaea lotus]

Definition of 'Lotus'

From: GCIDE
  • Lotus \Lo"tus\ (l[=o]"t[u^]s), n. [L. lotus, Gr. lwto`s. Cf. Lote.]
  • 1. (Bot.) (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 Nymph[ae]a Lotus and Nymph[ae]a c[ae]rulea, the respectively white-flowered and blue-flowered lotus of modern Egypt, which, with Nelumbium speciosum, are figured on its ancient monuments. (b) The lotus of the lotuseaters, probably a tree found in Northern Africa, Sicily, Portugal, and Spain (Zizyphus Lotus), the fruit of which is mildly sweet. It was fabled by the ancients to make strangers who ate of it forget their native country, or lose all desire to return to it. (c) The lote, or nettle tree. See Lote. (d) A genus (Lotus) of leguminous plants much resembling clover. [Written also lotos.] [1913 Webster]
  • European lotus, a small tree (Diospyros Lotus) of Southern Europe and Asia; also, its rather large bluish black berry, which is called also the date plum. [1913 Webster]
  • 2. (Arch.) An ornament much used in Egyptian architecture, generally asserted to have been suggested by the Egyptian water lily. [1913 Webster] Lotus-eater

Words containing 'Lotus'