Myrtle

[mur-tl] /ˈmɜr tl/

noun
1.
any plant of the genus Myrtus, especially M. communis, a shrub of southern Europe having evergreen leaves, fragrant white flowers, and aromatic berries: anciently held sacred to Venus and used as an emblem of love.
Compare .
2.
any of certain unrelated plants, as the periwinkle, Vinca minor, and California laurel, Umbellularia californica.
3.
Also called myrtlewood
[mur-tl-woo d] /ˈmɜr tlˌwʊd/ (Show IPA). the hard, golden-brown wood of the California laurel.
4.
Also called myrtle green. dark green with bluish tinge.
[mur-tl] /ˈmɜr tl/
noun
1.
a female given name.
/ˈmɜːtəl/
noun
1.
any evergreen shrub or tree of the myrtaceous genus Myrtus, esp M. communis, a S European shrub with pink or white flowers and aromatic blue-black berries
2.
short for crape myrtle
3.
bog myrtle another name for sweet gale
4.
(US & Canadian) creeping myrtle, trailing myrtle, another name for periwinkle2 (sense 1)
n.

c.1400, from Old French mirtile, from Medieval Latin myrtillus, diminutive of Latin myrtus “myrtle tree,” from Greek myrtos “the myrtle, a sprig of myrtle,” from same Semitic source as Greek myrrha (see myrrh).

(Isa. 41:19; Neh. 8:15; Zech. 1:8), Hebrew hadas, known in the East by the name _as_, the Myrtus communis of the botanist. “Although no myrtles are now found on the mount (of Olives), excepting in the gardens, yet they still exist in many of the glens about Jerusalem, where we have often seen its dark shining leaves and white flowers. There are many near Bethlehem and about Hebron, especially near Dewir Dan, the ancient Debir. It also sheds its fragrance on the sides of Carmel and of Tabor, and fringes the clefts of the Leontes in its course through Galilee. We meet with it all through Central Palestine” (Tristram).