Plants & CreaturesGreek → English
Lotus
/ˈləʊtəs/noun
Any of several unrelated water lilies and legumes, and the stylised flower motif in Egyptian and Indian architecture.
The Greek roots
λωτός
lōtós
lotus, clover-like plant
Literally: “lotus plant”
Follow a root:λωτός1 word
The story of the word
The Greeks used λωτός for at least four different plants, from a fodder clover to the fruit the Lotus-Eaters gave Odysseus's crew, which made them forget the way home. Egyptian columns carry the blue water lily as a capital, and it is that motif English calls a lotus in architecture. The word is probably a loan into Greek from a Semitic source, so it was already a traveller before it reached Europe.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → Latin → English
- First recorded
- 16th century
Same family
lotus-eaterLotophagi
In a sentence
Lotus capitals run the length of the hypostyle hall.
The pond held a single lotus, opening at about seven in the morning.