Hypertext Webster Gateway: "lotus"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Lotus \Lo"tus\, n. [L. lotus, Gr. ?. Cf. {Lote}.]
1. (Bot.)
(a) A name of several kinds of water lilies; as {Nelumbium
speciosum}, used in religious ceremonies, anciently in
Egypt, and to this day in Asia; {Nelumbium luteum},
the American lotus; and {Nymph[ae]a Lotus} and {N.
c[ae]rulea}, the respectively white-flowered and
blue-flowered lotus of modern Egypt, which, with
{Nelumbium speciosum}, are figured on its ancient
monuments.
(b) The lotus of the lotuseaters, probably a tree found in
Northern Africa, Sicily, Portugal, and Spain
({Zizyphus Lotus}), the fruit of which is mildly
sweet. It was fabled by the ancients to make strangers
who ate of it forget their native country, or lose all
desire to return to it.
(c) The lote, or nettle tree. See {Lote}.
(d) A genus ({Lotus}) of leguminous plants much resembling
clover. [Written also {lotos}.]
{European lotus}, a small tree ({Diospyros Lotus}) of
Southern Europe and Asia; also, its rather large bluish
black berry, which is called also the {date plum}.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Bird's-foot \Bird's"-foot`\, n. (Bot.)
A papilionaceous plant, the {Ornithopus}, having a curved,
cylindrical pod tipped with a short, clawlike point.
{Bird's-foot trefoil}. (Bot.)
(a) A genus of plants ({Lotus}) with clawlike pods. {L.
corniculatas}, with yellow flowers, is very common in
Great Britain.
(b) the related plant, {Trigonella ornithopodioides}, is also
European.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
lotus
n 1: native to eastern Asia; widely cultivated for its large pink
or white flowers [syn: {Indian lotus}, {sacred lotus}, {Nelumbo
nucifera}]
2: annual or perennial herbs or subshrubs [syn: {Lotus}, {genus
Lotus}]
3: white Egyptian lotus: water lily of Egypt to southeastern
Africa; held sacred by the Egyptians [syn: {white lotus},
{Egyptian water lily}, {white lily}, {Nymphaea lotus}]
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