anil

American  

[an-l] / ˈæn l /

noun

1. a West Indian shrub, Indigofera suffruticosa, of the legume family, having elongated clusters of small, reddish-yellow flowers and yielding indigo.

2. indigo; deep blue.

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anil British  

/ ˈænɪl /

noun

1. Also called: indigo.  a leguminous West Indian shrub, Indigofera suffruticosa: a source of indigo

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Etymology

Origin of anil

1575–85; < Portuguese < Arabic an-nīl, equivalent to al the + nīl indigo < Sanskrit nīlī indigo ( nīl ( a ) dark blue + -ī feminine noun suffix)

Example Sentences

Pertaining to, or obtained from, anil; indigotic; Ð applied to an acid formed by the action of nitric acid on indigo.

From Project Gutenberg

Putting into Acapulco, they found a bark laden with cocoas and anil.

From Project Gutenberg

Discovered in 1826, this body was formerly prepared from indigo—in Spanish, anil, whence the name; but is now produced on a larger scale from benzol, a coal-tar product.

From Project Gutenberg

The lungs on either side are enclosed in a separate and perfect bag, anil each lung has a distinct pleura.

From Project Gutenberg

It was from that province that the coasts of Cumana received the first seeds of the Indigofera anil,* which is cultivated jointly with the Indigofera tinctoria.

From Project Gutenberg