violet

[vahy-uh-lit] /ˈvaɪ ə lɪt/

noun

any chiefly low, stemless or leafy-stemmed plant of the genus Viola, having purple, blue, yellow, white, or variegated flowers.

Compare violet family.

any such plant except the pansy and the viola.

the flower of any native, wild species of violet, as distinguished from the pansy: the state flower of Illinois, New Jersey, and Rhode Island.

any of various similar plants of other genera.

reddish-blue, a color at the opposite end of the visible spectrum from red, an effect of light with a wavelength between 400 and 450 nm.

adjective

of the color violet; reddish-blue:

violet hats.

Origin

1300-50; Middle English < Old French violete, equivalent to viole (< Latin viola violet) + -ete -et

Violet

[vahy-uh-lit] /ˈvaɪ ə lɪt/

noun

a female given name.

Also, Violette

[vahy-uh-let, vahy-uh-lit] /ˌvaɪ əˈlɛt, ˈvaɪ ə lɪt/ (Show IPA), Violetta

[vahy-uh-let-uh] /ˌvaɪ əˈlɛt ə/ (Show IPA).

Examples from the web for violet

Some species of laelia also contribute an intense violet shade.

British Dictionary definitions for violet

violet

/ˈvaɪəlɪt/

noun

any of various temperate perennial herbaceous plants of the violaceous genus Viola, such as V. odorata (sweet (or garden) violet), typically having mauve or bluish flowers with irregular showy petals

any other plant of the genus Viola, such as the wild pansy

any of various similar but unrelated plants, such as the African violet

any of a group of colours that vary in saturation but have the same purplish-blue hue. They lie at one end of the visible spectrum, next to blue; approximate wavelength range 445–390 nanometres
(as adjective): a violet dress

a dye or pigment of or producing these colours

violet clothing: dressed in violet

(informal) shrinking violet, a shy person

Derived Forms

violet-like, adjective

Word Origin

C14: from Old French violete a little violet, from viole, from Latin viola violet

Word Origin and History for violet

early 14c., small plant with purplish-blue flowers, from Old French violette, diminutive of viole "violet," from Latin viola, cognate with Greek ion (see iodine), probably from a pre-Indo-European Mediterranean language. The color sense (late 14c.) developed from the flower.

violet in Medicine

violet vi·o·let (vī'ə-lĭt)
n.

The hue of the short-wave end of the visible spectrum, evoked in the human observer by radiant energy with wavelengths of approximately 380 to 420 nanometers.
Any of a group of colors, reddish-blue in hue, that may vary in lightness and saturation.

Idioms and Phrases with violet

violet

see: shrinking violet