heliotrope

See also héliotrope

English

Wikipedia

a heliotrope (Heliotropium arborescens)

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ἡλιοτρόπιον, from ἥλιος (“sun”) + τρέπω (“turn”).

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA: /ˈhiːliəˌtroʊp/

Noun

heliotrope (countable and uncountable; plural heliotropes)

Surveying heliotrope (ca.1878): B.A. Colonna collection (NOAA)..

1. (botany) A plant that turns so that it faces the sun.
2. (botany) Particularly, a purple-flowered plant of the species Heliotropium arborescens.
   • 1870, Benjamin Disraeli, Lothair

     As 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.

   heliotrope 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, The Furnished Room

     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. (mineralogy) 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

Translations

plant

• Arabic: حجر الدم (ar) (Ḩajr ad-dama) f
• German: Heliotrop (de) m
• Japanese: ヘリオトロープ (ja) (heriotorōbu), キダチルリソウ (ja) (kidachirisō), ニオイムラサキ (ja) (nioimurasaki)
• Latin: heliotropium (la) n
• Malay: heliotrop (ms)
• Portuguese: heliotrópio (pt) m

• Romanian: heliotrop (ro) m
• Russian: гелиотроп (ru) (geliotróp) m
• Serbo-Croatian: sunčac (sh) m
• Volapük: heliotrop (vo)

colour

• Japanese: 薄紫 (ja) (うすむらさき, usumurasaki)

rock

• Latin: heliotropium (la) n
• Romanian: heliotrop (ro) n

• Russian: гелиотроп (ru) (geliotróp) m

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

• Ido: heliotropo (io)

• Spanish: heliotropo (es) m

Adjective

heliotrope (comparative more heliotrope, superlative most heliotrope)

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, Wildfire

     And 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 Dick

     while 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

See also

• Appendix:Colors