Mullein
noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 Any of a few hundred species of European and Asian plants, of the genus Verbascum, especially that majority that have yellow flowers. uncountable, usually
"There be foure ſortes of Mulleyne, as [Pedanius] Dioſcorides writeth: wherof yͤ two firſt are white Mulleyne, and of them one is Male, and the other female: The third is blacke Mulleyne: The fourth is wilde Mulleyne. […] The white male Mulleyn (or rather Wolleyn) hath […] the whole top with his pleaſant yellow floures ſheweth like to a waxe Candell or taper cunningly wrought."
- 2 any of various plants of the genus Verbascum having large usually woolly leaves and terminal spikes of yellow or white or purplish flowers wordnet
Example
More examples"The name Aaron’s Beard is applied to several plants; so is Aaron’s Rod, the latter name being perhaps most commonly given to the mullein, Verbascum Thapsus, because of its long, straight stem."
Etymology
From Middle English moleyne, from Anglo-Norman moleine, which is either a Celtic borrowing and derived from Proto-Celtic *melinos (“yellow”) from *meli (“honey”) – an adjective found in Breton melen (“yellow”) and Welsh melyn (“yellow”) – or from mol (“soft”), from Latin mollis (“soft”), referencing the plant's fluffy, downy leaves, also apparent in synonyms such as feltwort, flannel leaf, and velvet plant.
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.