heliotrope

Meaning

Noun

1. (also, countable, figuratively) A plant with flowers which turn to face and follow the sun, such as (archaic) marigolds and sunflowers.
2. (also, countable, figuratively, specifically, uncountable) A plant with flowers which turn to face and follow the sun, such as (archaic) marigolds and sunflowers.
3. (also, countable, figuratively, uncountable) A plant with flowers which turn to face and follow the sun, such as (archaic) marigolds and sunflowers.
4. (uncountable) The fragrance of Heliotropium arborescens flowers, or a scent resembling this fragrance.
5. (uncountable) A light purple or violet colour like that of Heliotropium arborescens flowers.
6. (countable) An instrument that uses a mirror to reflect sunlight for purposes such as signalling, or (surveying) triangulation (where the reflected light is detected by another surveyor positioned some distance away).
7. (countable, historical) An ancient type of sundial consisting of a bowl with a perpendicular gnomon mounted in the centre.
8. (countable, uncountable) Synonym of bloodstone (“a green chalcedony that is sprinkled with red spots or veins of hematite”).

Adj

Of a light purple or violet colour like that of Heliotropium arborescens flowers.

Synonyms

bloodstone

turnsole

sunflower

🌻

pale purple

lavender

cherry-pie

oriental jasper

litmus

mauve colour

Translations

héliotrope

eliotropio

ηλιοτρόπιο

heliotroop

heliotropi

Heliotrop

heliotropium

Spiegeltelegraph

heliotropo

açık mor

güneş çiçeği

Heliotropium

kantaşı

الهليوتروب

kediotu

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈhiː.li.ə.tɹəʊp/

Etymology

Cognate with Middle English: elitrope

Cognate with Old English: eliotropus

In summary

PIE word
*sóh₂wl̥
The noun is borrowed from French héliotrope, from Latin hēliotropium (“plant which turns to face the sun; bloodstone”), from Ancient Greek ἡλῐοτρόπῐον (hēlĭotrópĭon, “European heliotrope (Heliotropium europaeum); bloodstone; solar clock, sundial”), from ἥλῐος (hḗlĭos, “the sun”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *sóh₂wl̥ (“the sun”)) + τρόπος (trópos, “a turn”) (from τρέπω (trépō, “to rotate; to turn”) (from Proto-Indo-European *trep- (“to turn”)) + -ος (-os, suffix forming nouns from verbs)) + -ῐον (-ĭon, diminutive suffix forming nouns).
The French-derived spelling displaced Middle English elitrope, eliotropius, elitropium (“plant which turns to face the sun; bloodstone”) [and other forms], from Old English eliotropus, from Latin hēliotropium (see above); and Old English siġelhweorfa, sōlsece, and sunnfolgend (“heliotrope flower”).
Sense 6 (“synonym of bloodstone”) is from the fact that a piece of the mineral placed in water is said to change the sun’s rays to a blood-red colour: see the 1601 quotation.
The adjective is probably derived from the noun.