Aaron's rod

American  

noun

1. (in the Bible) a rod, inscribed with the name of Aaron, that miraculously blossomed and yielded almonds: previously, the rod had changed into a serpent.

2. any of various plants having a tall, flowering stem, as the goldenrod or mullein.

3. a smooth-stemmed herb, Thermopsis villosa (orT. caroliniana ), of the legume family, found from North Carolina to Georgia, having yellow flowers in stiffly erect clusters and hoary pods.

4. Architecture. a convex molding having regularly spaced representations of leaves or scrollwork.

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Aaron's rod British  

noun

1. the rod used by Aaron in performing a variety of miracles in Egypt. It later blossomed and produced almonds (Numbers 17)

2. a widespread Eurasian scrophulariaceous plant, Verbascum thapsus, having woolly leaves and tall erect spikes of yellow flowers

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Etymology

Origin of Aaron's rod

First recorded in 1825–35 for non-Biblical use

Example Sentences

I do not remember what they all were; but I do know that mother, father, sister, teacher were among them—words that were to make the world blossom for me, “like Aaron’s rod, with flowers.”

From Textbooks • Dec. 21, 2021

Aaron's rod, which turned into a snake before Pharaoh, was an archetype of the inanimate object made to move like a living creature.

From Time Magazine Archive

Among the best pieces on show was a crozier from Cluny representing Aaron's rod.

From Time Magazine Archive

They break through the sunflowers toward the cottage, stepping through Aaron’s rod, wild carrot, all the leaves browned from frost.

From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr

In buds upon some Aaron's rod The childlike ancient saw his God; Less credulous, more believing, we Read in the grass—Divinity.

From Poems with Power to Strengthen the Soul by Mudge, James