wood sorrel

American  

noun

1. any of numerous plants of the genus Oxalis, especially O. acetosella, of Eurasia, having heart-shaped, trifoliolate leaves and white, pink-veined flowers.

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wood sorrel British  

noun

1. a Eurasian plant, Oxalis acetosella, having trifoliate leaves, an underground creeping stem, and white purple-veined flowers: family Oxalidaceae

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Etymology

Origin of wood sorrel

1515–25; translation of French sorrel de bois; replacing woodsour, so called from sour taste of the leaves

Compare meaning

How does wood-sorrel compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• wood sorrel vs. clover

Example Sentences

We’ve grown especially fond of snowberry, flowering currant, our two native strawberries, wood sorrel, vine maple and of course, our state flower, the Pacific rhododendron.

From Seattle Times • Sep. 29, 2023

Early September is the tail end of Norway’s raspberry season, and Kontrast is serving its nearby berries now with a homemade, pale-green sorbet made of yogurt and tangy wood sorrel.

From The Wall Street Journal • Sep. 7, 2017

She filled the conservatory with buttercups, ferns, wood sorrel, heliotropes, and jasmine, which she quenched with a “tiny watering-pot with a long, slender spout like the antennae of insects,” recalled her niece Martha Bianchi.

From Slate • May 17, 2016

He then gestured to a mat of oxalis, or wood sorrel, which Lightner was already busily collecting in a flat Tupperware container.

From New York Times • Oct. 18, 2010

Fat wax pillar candles burn at the center, beside a carved stone vase full of wood sorrel.

From "The Cruel Prince" by Holly Black