melilot

American  

[mel-uh-lot] / ˈmɛl əˌlɒt /

noun

1. a cloverlike plant of the genus Melilotus, of the legume family, grown as a forage plant.

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melilot British  

/ ˈmɛlɪˌlɒt /

noun

1. Also called: sweet clover.  any leguminous plant of the Old World genus Melilotus, having narrow clusters of small white or yellow fragrant flowers

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Etymology

Origin of melilot

before 1150; Middle English mellilot < Latin melilōtos < Greek melílōtos a clover, equivalent to méli honey + lōtós lotus; replacing late Old English milotis < Latin, as above

Example Sentences

Fenugreek, fen′ū-grēk, n. a genus of leguminous plants, allied to clover and melilot.

From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 2 of 4: E-M) by Various

Within what weeks the melilot Gave forth its fragrance, I, a lad, Or never knew or quite forgot, Save that 'twas while the year is glad.

From The Home Book of Verse — Volume 3 by Stevenson, Burton Egbert

Great purple snapdragons hung from clefts in the rocks, inula flashed gorgeously yellow, white melilot raised its graceful drooping blossoms, and hemp-agrimony made the bees sing a drowsy song of the brimming cup of summer.

From Wanderings by southern waters, eastern Aquitaine by Barker, Edward Harrison

I think my heart broke; but I have forgot All but the smell of the white melilot.

From The Second Book of Modern Verse; a selection from the work of contemporaneous American poets by Rittenhouse, Jessie Belle

We have only to stretch out our hands as we lie to gather half a dozen spikes of lavender, wild thyme, rosemary, Deptford pink, melilot, blue pimpernel, and white scabious.

From The Roof of France by Betham-Edwards, Matilda