mullein

mullein

English

Mullein Verbascum thapsus

Wikispecies

Alternative forms

• mullen

Etymology

14th century; Middle English moleyne, from Anglo-Norman and Old French moleine, either a Celtic borrowing, from Proto-Celtic *melinos (“yellow”), from *meli (“honey”) (compare Breton melen (“yellow”) and Welsh melyn (“yellow”))[1]; or from mol (“soft”), from Latin mollis (“soft”), referencing the plant's fluffy, downy leaves, also apparent in synonyms, such as feltwort, flannel leaf, and velvet plant.[2]

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmʌlɨn/

Noun

mullein (usually uncountable, plural mulleins)

1. Any of several European and Asian plants, of the genus Verbascum, that have yellow flowers and downy leaves; the velvet plant.

Synonyms

• Aaron's rod, cow's lungwort, feltwort, flannel leaf, velvet plant

Hyponyms

• common mullein (Verbascum thapsus)
• Cretan mullein (Verbascum creticum)
• dark mullein (Verbascum nigrum)
• great mullein (Verbascum thapsus)
• hoary mullein (Verbascum pulverulentum)
• white mullein (Verbascum lychnitis)
• moth mullein (Verbascum blattaria)
• mullein foxglove (Dasistoma macrophylla, syn. Seymeria macrophylla)
• mullein pink (Lychnis coronaria)
• mullein wave (Scopula marginepunctata)
• nettle-leaved mullein (Verbascum chaixii)
• orange mullein (Verbascum phlomoides)
• petty mullein (Primula veris)
• purple mullein (Verbascum phoeniceum)
• sage mullein, sageleaf mullein (Phlomis spp.)
• showy mullein (Verbascum speciosum)
• turkey mullein (Croton setigerus, syn. Eremocarpus setigerus)
• twiggy mullein (Verbascum virgatum)
• wavyleaf mullein Verbascum sinuatum)
• white mullein (Verbascum lychnitis)
• woolly mullein (Verbascum thapsus)

Translations

plants of the genus Verbascum

Armenian: խռնդատ (hy) (xṙndat) Chinese: Mandarin: 毛蕊花 (zh) (máoruǐhuā) Czech: divizna (cs) f Dutch: koningskaars m or f Estonian: vägihein Finnish: tulikukka (fi) French: molène (fr) f German: Königskerze (de) f Greek: Ancient Greek: φλόμος f (phlómos)

Ido: verbasko (io) Irish: (dark mullein) coinnle an phúca f pl, (great mullein) coinnle Muire f pl, (white mullein) coinnle bána f pl Italian: verbasco (it) m Japanese: 毛蕊花 (もうずいか, mōzuika) Latin: verbascum n Navajo: nátʼostsoh Polish: dziewanna (pl) f Portuguese: verbasco m Romanian: lumânărică (ro) f, coada-mielului (ro) f Russian: коровя́к (ru) m (korovják), медве́жье у́хо n (medvéžʹje úxo) Spanish: verbasco (es) m

References

1. Oxford English Dictionary, 1884–1928, and First Supplement, 1933.
2. “mullein” in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th edition, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016, →ISBN.