chamomile
Americannoun
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a composite plant, Chamaemelium nobile (orAnthemis nobilis ), native to the Old World, having strongly scented foliage and white ray flowers with yellow centers used medicinally and as a tea.
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any of several allied plants of the genera Matricaria and Tripleurospermum.
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of chamomile
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English camamyll, camomille, from Middle French, Old French camomille or Medieval Latin camomilla, for Latin chamaemēlon, from Greek chamaímēlon, equivalent to chamaí “on the ground” + mêlon “apple”; allegedly so called from the applelike odor of the flowers
Explanation
Chamomile is a plant with pretty little white flowers and a sweet smell. Dried chamomile is often used to make herbal tea. You might grow chamomile in your garden for its blossoms, which look like tiny daisies, or for its smell, which is a little bit like apples. Chamomile tea is well-known for helping you sleep well at night, and most people like the way it tastes, too. You can also spell it camomile, and its root goes back to the Greek word khamaimēlon, "earth apple," from khamai, "on the ground," and mēlon, "apple."
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.
See Examples For:
Bottle bio: Another Rías Baixas Albariño, this comes from Galicia, Spain, and has flavors of white peach, citrus peel, chamomile, wet stone and sea spray.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 6, 2026
Other options include Goodnite dark chocolate sleep bites, containing L-theanine and melatonin; Lagoon's Night Bites, which feature L-theanine and magnesium; and Good Day Chocolate's "Calm" range, infused with magnesium, L-theanine and chamomile.
From BBC ● Mar. 5, 2026
As for herbal teas, Ziata recommended Steven Smith Teamaker’s Meadow blend, which includes golden Egyptian chamomile flowers, hyssop, Cape rooibos, rose petals and linden flowers.
From Salon ● Apr. 18, 2025
I’ll have chamomile lavender tea and they’ll usually have their dessert — they usually pick something out of the freezer.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 22, 2024
Auntie North gave Llewelyn chamomile tea to calm his nerves, and he fell asleep before takeoff.
From "The Way to Rio Luna" by Zoraida Cordova
He carries a bunch of chamomiles – the national flower of Russia, he explains – to place in tribute.
From The Guardian ● Sep. 15, 2017
Round about it were roses and narcissus and amaranths and gilly-flowers and chamomiles and white lilies and violets, and other flowers of all kinds and colours.
From The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night — Volume 05 by Burton, Richard Francis, Sir
The numerous families of the pellitories, the chamomiles, the mesembryanthemums, pushed their varied and abundant tufts through the loop-holes in the walls, cracked and fissured in spite of their thickness.
From The Village Rector by Wormeley, Katharine Prescott
It is cultivated for medicinal purposes in Surrey, at several places in Saxony, and in France and Belgium,—that grown in England being much more valuable than any of the foreign chamomiles brought into the market.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 5, Slice 7 "Cerargyrite" to "Charing Cross" by Various
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
