eyebright

American  

[ahy-brahyt] / ˈaɪˌbraɪt /

noun

1. any of various plants belonging to the genus Euphrasia, of the figwort family, as E. officinalis of Europe, formerly used for treating diseases of the eye.

2. the scarlet pimpernel. pimpernel

---

eyebright British  

/ ˈaɪˌbraɪt /

noun

1. Also called: euphrasy.  any scrophulariaceous annual plant of the genus Euphrasia, esp E. nemorosa, having small white-and-purple two-lipped flowers: formerly used in the treatment of eye disorders

---

Etymology

Origin of eyebright

First recorded in 1525–35; eye + bright

Example Sentences

Great, pale blue bird-foot violets were blooming on favoured slopes, and in protected hollows patches of eyebright made fairy forests on the moss, while under tatters of dead leaves by the brookside arbutus blushed.

From Judith of the Cumberlands by MacGowan, Alice

The association of ideas was suggestive—the plant eyebright was used for centuries in diseases of the eye because a black speck in the flower suggested the pupil of the eye.

From The Evolution of Modern Medicine A Series of Lectures Delivered at Yale University on the Silliman Foundation in April, 1913 by Osler, William

They were simple flowers, such as I had known in childhood and had not found in Virginia—yarrow, and queen of the meadow, and bluebells, and the little eyebright.

From Salute to Adventurers by Buchan, John

Several of the old poets praise the eyebright, or euphrasia, which has a black pupil-like spot on the corolla; therefore, it was thought by our ancestors to make a good eye-lotion.

From Chatterbox, 1906 by Clarke, J. Erskine (John Erskine)

Did yon ever see such lovely white violets?" she said; "and is not that eyebright delicate, with its edging of colour?

From Nobody by Warner, Susan