VIOLET

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does violet mean? 

• VIOLET (noun)
  The noun VIOLET has 2 senses:

1. any of numerous low-growing violas with small flowers

2. a variable color that lies beyond blue in the spectrum

  Familiarity information: VIOLET used as a noun is rare.

• VIOLET (adjective)
  The adjective VIOLET has 1 sense:

1. of a color intermediate between red and blue

  Familiarity information: VIOLET used as an adjective is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• VIOLET (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Any of numerous low-growing violas with small flowers

Classified under:

Nouns denoting plants

Hypernyms ("violet" is a kind of...):

viola (any of the numerous plants of the genus Viola)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "violet"):

American dog violet; Viola conspersa (violet of eastern North America having pale violet to white flowers)

sweet white violet; Viola blanda; white violet; woodland white violet (short-stemmed violet of eastern North America having fragrant purple-veined white flowers)

Canada violet; tall white violet; Viola canadensis; white violet (tall North American perennial with heart-shaped leaves and white flowers with purple streaks)

dog violet; heath violet; Viola canina (Old World leafy-stemmed blue-flowered violet)

heartsease; two-eyed violet; Viola ocellata (violet of Pacific coast of North America having white petals tinged with yellow and deep violet)

English violet; garden violet; sweet violet; Viola odorata (European violet typically having purple to white flowers; widely naturalized)

bird's-foot violet; Johnny-jump-up; pansy violet; Viola pedata; wood violet (common violet of the eastern United States with large pale blue or purple flowers resembling pansies)

downy yellow violet; Viola pubescens (violet of eastern North America having softly pubescent leaves and stems and clear yellow flowers with brown-purple veins)

long-spurred violet; Viola rostrata (violet of eastern North America having lilac-purple flowers with a long slender spur)

cream violet; pale violet; striped violet; Viola striata (leafy-stemmed violet of eastern North America having large white or creamy flowers faintly marked with purple)

hedge violet; Viola reichenbachiana; Viola sylvatica; wood violet (common European violet that grows in woods and hedgerows)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A variable color that lies beyond blue in the spectrum

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

reddish blue; violet

Hypernyms ("violet" is a kind of...):

purple; purpleness (a purple color or pigment)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "violet"):

indigo (a blue-violet color)

Derivation:

violet (of a color intermediate between red and blue)

• VIOLET (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Of a color intermediate between red and blue

Synonyms:

purple; purplish; violet

Similar:

chromatic (being or having or characterized by hue)

Derivation:

violet (a variable color that lies beyond blue in the spectrum)

 Context examples 

Her violet eyes shining, her lips parted, a pink flush upon her cheeks, all thought of her natural reserve lost in her overpowering excitement and concern.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

A colorless, highly toxic, crystalline compound that turns violet when exposed to air.

(Dianisidine, NCI Thesaurus)

A measurement of the cells containing Pappenheimer Bodies (violet or blue staining ferritin granules usually found along the periphery of the red blood cells) in a biological specimen.

(Pappenheimer Body Count, NCI Thesaurus/CDISC)

That was only a month to wait, and here was a lovely violet silk going at a bargain, and she had the money, if she only dared to take it.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

An immunological procedure in which the antibodies are coupled with molecules which fluoresce under ultra violet (UV) light.

(Fluorescent Antibody Procedure, NCI Thesaurus)

People with albinism may have vision problems and white or yellow hair; reddish, violet, blue or brown eyes; and pale skin.

(Albinism, NCI Dictionary)

Yonder, beyond the violet, hazy horizon, was the stream which led back to civilization.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Gentian violet (GV) dissociates into positive (GV+) and negative ions (Cl-) that penetrate both gram-positive and gram-negative bacterial cells.

(Gentian Violet, NCI Thesaurus)

A microscopy staining method that utilizes luxol fast blue, an alcohol soluble copper phthalocyanine dye, and cresyl violet, an organic compound that is commonly used as a counter stain, to determine the presence of myelin as well as helicobacter and campylobacter bacterial species.

(Luxol Fast Blue and Cresyl Violet Staining Method, NCI Thesaurus)

At last the violet rim of the German Ocean appeared over the green edge of the Norfolk coast, and the driver pointed with his whip to two old brick and timber gables which projected from a grove of trees.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)