spike lavender

noun

1. a lavender, Lavandula latifolia, having spikes of pale-purple flowers, and yielding an oil used in painting.

spike lavender

noun

1. a Mediterranean lavender plant, Lavandula latifolia, having pale purple flowers and yielding an oil used in paints

Word History and Origins

Origin of spike lavender¹

First recorded in 1890–95

Word History and Origins

Origin of spike lavender¹

C17: from dialect spick lavender, via Old French and Old Provençal from Latin spīca spike ²

Example Sentences

Shepherds—mere small boys—keep the sheep in these stony meadows, where the flocks graze, to the greater glory of our local mutton, on the camphor saturated badafo, that is to say, spike lavender.

From Project Gutenberg