noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   Alkanna tinctoria, a plant whose root is used as a red dye. countable, uncountable
2. 2
   perennial or biennial herb cultivated for its delicate usually blue flowers wordnet
3. 3
   The dyeing matter extracted from the roots of the plant with water or oil, used for cotton especially but also silk and wool, giving a deep red colour. countable, uncountable
4. 4
   Other plants of the genus Alkanna. countable, uncountable
5. 5
   Anchusa officinalis (common bugloss), a similar plant. countable, uncountable

Show 5 more definitions

6. 6
   Anchusa ochroleuca (yellow alkanet). countable, uncountable
7. 7
   Cynoglottis barrelieri (syn. Anchusa barrelieri, false alkanet). countable, uncountable
8. 8
   Lithospermum arvense (bastard alkanet or field gromwell). countable, uncountable
9. 9
   Pentaglottis sempervirens (green alkanet), a blue-flowered plant with evergreen leaves. countable, uncountable
10. 10
    Puccoon (Sanguinaria canadensis). countable, uncountable

Synonyms

All synonyms

buglossanchusa officinalisbuglossdyer's alkanetdyers' buglosslanguedoc bugloss

Etymology

Diminutive of Spanish alcana, alheña.

Related phrases

bastard alkanetsanguinaria canadensis

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.