Mallow

//ˈmæloʊ// name, noun

name, noun ·Uncommon ·College level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    Any of a group of flowering plants in several genera of the taxonomic family Malvaceae, especially of the genus Malva. Several species are edible by humans. countable, uncountable

    "Gonzalo. Had I plantation of this isle, my lord,— Antonio. He’ld sow’t with nettle-seed. Sebastian. Or docks, or mallows."

  2. 2
    any of various plants of the family Malvaceae wordnet
  3. 3
    Larentia clavaria, an uncommon moth found across Eurasia. countable, uncountable
Proper Noun
  1. 1
    A surname. countable, uncountable
  2. 2
    A town in County Cork, Ireland (Irish grid ref W 5598). countable, uncountable
  3. 3
    A locality in the County of Newell, Alberta, Canada. countable, uncountable
  4. 4
    An unincorporated community in Alleghany County, Virginia, United States. countable, uncountable

Synonyms

All synonyms
colorflowerpigmentplumpurpleweed

Example

More examples

"The Mallow Family includes about eight hundred species which are widely distributed in the temperate and tropical countries."

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Middle English malwe, from Old English mealwe, borrowed from Latin malva. Compare the doublet mauve.

Etymology 2

From Irish Meallach.

Related phrases

Chinese mallowEuropean mallowGreek mallowIndian mallowJew's mallowParry's mallow (Eremalche parryiVenice mallowalkali mallowblue mallowchaparral mallowcommon mallowcountry mallow

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