Hypertext Webster Gateway: "Shamrock"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Shamrock \Sham"rock\, n. [L. seamrog, seamar, trefoil, white
clover, white honeysuckle; akin to Gael. seamrag.] (Bot.)
A trifoliate plant used as a national emblem by the Irish.
The legend is that St. Patrick once plucked a leaf of it for
use in illustrating the doctrine of the trinity.
Note: The original plant was probably a kind of wood sorrel
({Oxalis Acetocella}); but now the name is given to the
white clover ({Trifolium repens}), and the black medic
({Medicago lupulina}).
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
shamrock
n 1: creeping European clover having white to pink flowers and
bright green leaves; naturalized in United States;
widely grown for forage [syn: {white clover}, {dutch
clover}, {Trifolium repens}]
2: Eurasian plant with heart-shaped trifoliate leaves and white
pink- or purple-veined flowers [syn: {common wood sorrel},
{cuckoo bread}, {Oxalis acetosella}]
3: clover native to Ireland with yellowish flowers; often
considered the true or original shamrock [syn: {hop clover},
{lesser yellow trefoil}, {Trifolium dubium}]
Additional Hypertext Webster Gateway Lookup
Gateway by dict@stokkie.net
stock only wrote the gateway and does not have any control over the contents;
see the Webster Gateway FAQ,
and also the Back-end/database links and credits.