Anchusa
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 Any plant of the genus Anchusa (within family Boraginaceae) of rough and hairy Old World herbs with one-sided clusters of trumpet-shaped flowers.
"1835, Philip Miller, "Anchusa", entry in The Gardener's Dictionary, Volume I, 9th Edition, page 430, Anchusa and Cinnabar were used by the antients to give an agreeable colour to their ointments; and Pliny tells us that where the anchusa was used, they added salt to prevent the oil in those compositions from becoming rancid."
- 2 any of various Old World herbs of the genus Anchusa having one-sided clusters of trumpet-shaped flowers wordnet
Example
More examples"1835, Philip Miller, "Anchusa", entry in The Gardener's Dictionary, Volume I, 9th Edition, page 430, Anchusa and Cinnabar were used by the antients to give an agreeable colour to their ointments; and Pliny tells us that where the anchusa was used, they added salt to prevent the oil in those compositions from becoming rancid."
Etymology
From the genus name.
Related phrases
More for "anchusa"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.