Heliotrope

Pronunciation

• US IPA: /ˈhiːliəˌtroÊŠp/

Origin

From French héliotrope, from Ancient Greek ἡλιοτρόπιον, from ἥλιος ("sun") + τρέπω ("turn").

Full definition of heliotrope

Noun

1. (botany) A plant that turns so that it faces the sun.
2. (botany) Particularly, a purple-flowered plant of the species .
• 1870, Benjamin Disraeli, LothairAs they entered now, it seemed a blaze of roses and carnations, though one recognized in a moment the presence of the lily, the heliotrope, and the stock.
3. A light purple or violet colour.
• 2006, Thomas Pynchon, Against the Day, page 623"...the face of Dr. Willi Dingkopf, framed by a haircut in violation of more than one law of physics, and a vivid necktie in fuchsia, heliotrope, and duck green..."
4. The fragrance of heliotrope flowers.
• 1881, Henry James, The Portrait of a Lady... he had always smelt so much more of heliotrope than of gunpowder.
• 1906, O. Henry, Ransacking the drawers of the dresser he came upon a discarded, tiny, ragged handkerchief. He pressed it to his face. It was racy and insolent with heliotrope; ...
5. (mineral) A bloodstone (a variety of quartz).
6. (surveying) An instrument, employed in triangulation, that uses a mirror to reflect sunlight toward another, very distant, surveyor.

Synonyms

• (rock) bloodstone

Related terms

• (direction) heliotropism

Adjective

1. Light purple or violet.
• 1904, Jerome K. Jerome, Tommy and Co.Lady in a heliotrope dress with a lace collar, three flounces on the skirt?
• 1917, Zane Grey, WildfireAnd following that was a tortuous passage through a weird region of clay dunes, blue and violet and heliotrope and lavender, all worn smooth by rain and wind.
2. Keeping one’s face turned toward the sun.
• 1851, Herman Melville, Moby Dickwhile still as on the night before, slouched Ahab stood fixed within his scuttle; his hid, heliotrope glance anticipatingly gone backward on its dial; sat due eastward for the earliest sun.

Derived terms

• (colour) heliotrope cyanosis

Related terms

• (direction) heliotropic

Derived terms

• winter heliotrope