mullein

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English[edit]

Mullein Verbascum thapsus
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Alternative forms[edit]

Etymology[edit]

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”)[1] – 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.[2]

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

mullein (usually uncountable, plural mulleins)

  1. Any of a few hundred species of European and Asian plants, of the genus Verbascum, especially that majority that have yellow flowers. Some species have been introduced to other continents, where some are now seen as invasive pests. Some species, though far from all, have downy leaves, hence common names such as: "velvet plant". [from 14th c.]
    • 1940, Rosetta E. Clarkson, Green Enchantments: The Magic Spell of Gardens, The Macmillan Company, page 267:
      As we all know, witches ride through the air on a broom, but sometimes their means of locomotion was a bulrush, a branch of thorn, mullein stalks, cornstalk, or ragweed, called fairies' horse in Ireland.

Synonyms[edit]

Hyponyms[edit]

Translations[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Oxford English Dictionary, 1884–1928, and First Supplement, 1933.
  2. ^ “mullein”, in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th edition, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016, →ISBN.

Finnish[edit]

Noun[edit]

mullein

  1. instructive plural of mulli

Anagrams[edit]

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