noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   Any perennial herb of the genus Saponaria. countable, uncountable
2. 2
   plant of European origin having pink or white flowers and leaves yielding a detergent when bruised wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

bouncing bessbouncing bethedge pinklatherwortmy lady's washbowlsaponaria officinalis

Etymology

From soap + wort, from the soapy matter formed when the leaves are agitated in water.

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