sweet gale

noun

1. an aromatic shrub, Myrica gale, of marshes, having lance-shaped leaves and yellowish fruit.

sweet gale

noun

1. Often shortened to: gale. Also called: bog myrtle. a shrub, Myrica gale, of northern swamp regions, having yellow catkin-like flowers and aromatic leaves: family Myricaceae

Word History and Origins

Origin of sweet gale¹

First recorded in 1630–40

Word History and Origins

Origin of sweet gale¹

C17: see _gale ²

Example Sentences

The sweet gale, Myrica Gale, and the sage, Salvia officinalis, were also similarly employed.

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The popular name of a plant, also known as the sweet gale or gaul, sweet willow, bog or Dutch myrtle.

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Footnote 7: Ale brewed of the herb called sweet gale, or Dutch myrtle, instead of hops.--Tr.

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It is a shrub much like our sweet gale in Europe, and its leaves are very odorous, and, even when dried, retain their fragrance. 

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Erasmus is, much more than Aretino or Castiglione, the representative of the spirit of his age, one over whose Christian sentiment the sweet gale of Antiquity had passed.

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