alkanet

American  

[al-kuh-net] / ˈæl kəˌnɛt /

noun

1. a European plant, Alkanna tinctoria, of the borage family.

2. the root of this plant, yielding a red dye.

3. the dye itself.

4. any of several similar hairy plants, as the bugloss, Anchusa officinalis, or a puccoon of the genus Lithospermum.

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alkanet British  

/ ˈælkəˌnɛt /

noun

1. a European boraginaceous plant, Alkanna tinctoria, the roots of which yield a red dye

2. Also called: anchusin, alkannin. the dye obtained from this plant

3. any of certain hairy blue-flowered Old World plants of the boraginaceous genus Anchusa (or Pentaglottis ), such as A. sempervirens of Europe See also bugloss

4. another name for puccoon

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Etymology

Origin of alkanet

1300–50; Middle English < Old Spanish alcaneta, equivalent to alcan ( a ) henna (plant) (< Medieval Latin alchanna < Arabic al the + hinnā̉ henna) + -eta diminutive suffix

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

alkanet

For rosy cheeks, alkanet and cochineal roots were used as the basis for rouge.

From BBC ● May 10, 2013

A solution of spermaceti in sulphuric ether tinged with alkanet root, which solidifies at 50 degrees F., and melts and boils with the heat of the hand, is described in Beckmann's History of Inventions, Vol.

From The Miracle Mongers, an Exposé by Harry Houdini

A little alkanet to color if you wish.

From Our Deportment Or the Manners, Conduct and Dress of the Most Refined Society by John H. Young

French Lip Salve.—Lard, twenty-six ounces; white wax, two ounces; nitre and alum in fine powder, of each one-half ounce; alkanet to color.

From The Ladies Book of Useful Information Compiled from many sources by Anonymous

Put into a pint of cold-drawn linseed oil, four pennyworth of alkanet root, and two pennyworth of rose pink.

From The Cook and Housekeeper's Complete and Universal Dictionary; Including a System of Modern Cookery, in all Its Various Branches, Adapted to the Use of Private Families by Mary Eaton

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