vi|o|let

vi|o|let «VY uh liht», noun, adjective.

–n.

1. a small plant with purple, blue, yellow, or white flowers. Many common violets grow wild and bloom in the spring.

2. the flower of any of these plants. Some violets are very fragrant. The violet is the state flower of Illinois, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin.

3. any one of several similar but unrelated plants or their flowers (used with a qualifying word): »

the dogtooth violet.

4. a bluish purple like that of certain violets. Violet is red and blue mixed, lying at the end of the color spectrum and having a wavelength shorter than about 4,000 angstroms.

–adj.

bluish-purple.

╂[< Old French violette (diminutive) < viole viola, violet < Latin viola]

–vi´o|let|like´, adjective.