myrtle
[mur-tl]
- any plant of the genus Myrtus, especially M. communis, a shrub of southern Europe having evergreen leaves, fragrant white flowers, and aromatic berries: anciently held sacred to Venus and used as an emblem of love.Compare myrtle family.
- any of certain unrelated plants, as the periwinkle, Vinca minor, and California laurel, Umbellularia californica.
- Also called myr·tle·wood [mur-tl-woo d] /ˈmɜr tlˌwʊd/. the hard, golden-brown wood of the California laurel.
- Also called myrtle green. dark green with bluish tinge.
Show More
Origin of myrtle
1350–1400; Middle English mirtile < Medieval Latin myrtillus, equivalent to Latin myrt(us) (< Greek mýrtos) + New Latin -illus diminutive suffix
Myrtle
[mur-tl]
- a female given name.
Show More
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for myrtle
Contemporary Examples
They were racing toward the corner of Tompkins and Myrtle avenues with Johnson at the wheel when another call came over the radio.
Traffic up ahead on Myrtle backed up, and Johnson began weaving in and out.
In 1987, Myrtle Young came on The Tonight Show to show off her rare collection of potato chips.
Myrtle Beach Tea Party leader Joe Dugan was one of those who said his attention is elsewhere.
By a wide margin, he came across as the least scary, least risky, most cautious choice on the stage at Myrtle Beach.
Picking Mitt Romney Is Picking the Least Scary Republican, Not the Most InspiringMichael Medved
January 17, 2012
Historical Examples
You remember I feared the old superstition, and I went to—Myrtle.
The Law-BreakersRidgwell Cullum
Her favourite plants were the myrtle, apple-tree, rose, and poppy.
Myths and Legends of Ancient Greece and RomeE.M. Berens
So speaks he, and shrouds his brows with his mother's myrtle.
The Aeneid of VirgilVirgil
Until then she was very respectfully his friend, Myrtle Musgrove.
Moriah's Mourning and Other Half-Hour SketchesRuth McEnery Stuart
It was a wedding dress, and there was a veil with it, and a wreath of myrtle.
Hunter's MarjoryMargaret Bruce Clarke
myrtle
- any evergreen shrub or tree of the myrtaceous genus Myrtus, esp M. communis, a S European shrub with pink or white flowers and aromatic blue-black berries
- short for crape myrtle
- bog myrtleanother name for sweet gale
- creeping myrtle or trailing myrtle US and Canadian another name for periwinkle 2 (def. 1)
Show More
Word Origin
C16: from Medieval Latin myrtilla, from Latin myrtus, from Greek murtos
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
Word Origin and History for myrtle
n.
c.1400, from Old French mirtile, from Medieval Latin myrtillus, diminutive of Latin myrtus "myrtle tree," from Greek myrtos "the myrtle, a sprig of myrtle," from same Semitic source as Greek myrrha (see myrrh).
Show More
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper