from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
- n. Any of numerous plants of the genus Gentiana, characteristically having showy, variously colored flowers.
- n. The dried rhizome and roots of a yellow-flowered European gentian, G. lutea, sometimes used as a tonic.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
- n. Any of various herbs of the family Gentianaceae found in temperate and mountainous regions with violet or blue flowers.
- n. The dried roots and rhizome of a European gentian, Gentiana lutea, used as a tonic.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English
- n. Any one of a genus (Gentiana) of herbaceous plants with opposite leaves and a tubular four- or five-lobed corolla, usually blue, but sometimes white, yellow, or red. See Illust. of capsule.
from The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. The common name for species of the genus Gentiana.
- n. The pineweed or orange-grass, Sarothra gentianoides.
- n. The soapwort-gentian.
- n. Same as. striped gentian.
- n. The American columbo, Frasera Carolinensis.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- n. any of various plants of the family Gentianaceae especially the genera Gentiana and Gentianella and Gentianopsis
The Marmolata having retired from the scene, we now turn back, taking a short cut across the dreary "Col" and finding by the way some exquisite specimens of wild Daphne (Daphne Cneorum), abundance of the small mountain gentian (Gentiana verna), and large clusters of a very lovely, tiny pink flower with wax-like petals, minute and close as a lichen, and unlike anything that either of us has ever seen before.
I use it, or another herb called gentian in animals as a tincture to stimulate appetite.
One of only two brands of bitters to survive prohibition, it's derived from a flowering plant known as a gentian, and is thinner than many other bitters, with less cloying flavors.
If the patient is run down in condition, bitter tonics, such as gentian, may be given in 2-dram doses twice a day and a liberal diet of grain allowed.
Some mild and general tonic will likewise be useful, such as gentian and ginger.
I find it hard to countenance how such an exotic thing can do so well so far from its home in South America, but here it is, lighting up my garden still, its gentian-blue flowers defiant and powering on strongly.
Count the birds, notice the small blossoms just budding along the streambanks: gentian, violet crocus, bellflower.
This tiny gentian, so faithful to the earth in its teardrop of honey-colored amber, bloomed and became immortal thirty-five million years before anyone thought of God.
Instead, she smiled broadly as she painted the wound with gentian violet and sent the patient on his way.
Mama says she named me this because the gentian blossom is the exact same color blue as my eyes.