woadwaxen

[ wohd-wak-suhn ]

noun

1. an ornamental Eurasian shrub, Genista tinctoria, whose flowers yield a yellow dye formerly used with woad to make a permanent green dye.

woadwaxen

/ ˈwəʊdˌwæksən /

noun

1. another name for dyer's-greenweed

Word History and Origins

Origin of woadwaxen¹

1325–75; Middle English wodewaxen, equivalent to wode wood ¹ + waxen grown (past participle of waxen to wax ² ); replacing Middle English wodewax, Old English wuduweax

Example Sentences

I did that now, cutting off the lane to gather some woadwaxen for his yellow.

From Literature

The rain was nothing but a heavy mist by the time we set sail, armed with a shovel and canvas bags to carry back whatever we might find, even if it was only woadwaxen.

From Literature

“Come back with a whole bag of woadwaxen.”

From Literature