moschatel

American

[mos-kuh-tel, mos-kuh-tel] / ˌmɒs kəˈtɛl, ˈmɒs kəˌtɛl /

noun

a small plant, Adoxa moschatellina, having greenish or yellowish flowers with a musky odor.

moschatel British

/ ˌmɒskəˈtɛl /

noun

Also called: townhall clock. five-faced bishop. a small N temperate plant, Adoxa moschatellina, with greenish-white musk-scented flowers on top of the stem, arranged as four pointing sideways at right angles to each other and one facing upwards: family Adoxaceae

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of moschatel

1725–35; < French moscatelle < Italian moscatella, equivalent to moscat ( o ) musk + -ella -elle; -h- from botanical name

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

He knows his botany, so when describing the hidden entrance to the holloway he is able to list the guardian plants with great exactness: between the snaking tree roots he spots "the umbrals: hart's tongue fern, shining cranesbill, ivy, and moschatel, the lover of shade".

From The Guardian

Moschatel, mos′ka-tel, n. a plant with pale-green flowers and a musky smell.

From Project Gutenberg

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023