lo|tus

lo|tus «LOH tuhs», noun.

1. a water plant having large, often floating leaves, and showy flowers. It belongs to the water-lily family. The lotus was commonly represented in the decorative art of the Hindus and the Egyptians: a) one of two African water lilies, a white-flowered species and a blue-flowered species. b) a perennial plant with large, fragrant rose or pink flowers; sacred lotus of India.

2. a shrubby plant bearing red, pink, or white flowers, such as the bird's-foot trefoil. It belongs to the pea family.

3. a) a plant whose fruit was supposed by the ancient Greeks to cause a dreamy mental state in which one forgets real life and loses all desire to return home. b) the fruit itself.

4. Architecture. an ornament representing the Egyptian water lily. Also, lotos.

╂[< Latin lōtus < Greek lōtós]