Word: heliotrope Part of Speech: noun Etymology: 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). By surface analysis, helio- + -trope. 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”). Noun 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. Pronunciation: /ˈhiː.li.ə.tɹəʊp/, /ˈhɛ-/, /-lɪ.əʊ-/, /ˈhi.li.əˌtɹoʊp/ 1. A plant with flowers which turn to face and follow the sun, such as (archaic) marigolds and sunflowers. Labels: also, countable, figuratively Example: In the Opale, there be obſerved alſo divers blemiſhes and imperfections as vvell as in other ſtones; namely, if the colour reſemble the floure of that hearbe vvhich is called Heliotropium, id eſt, Turneſole:[…] Example: Lac[o]. Theſe forked tricks, I vnderſtand 'hem not. / VVould he vvould tell vs vvhome he loues, or hates, / That vve might follovv, vvithout feare, or doubt. / Arr[untius]. Good Heliotrope! Is this your honeſt man? / Let him be yours ſo ſtill. He is my knaue. 2. A plant with flowers which turn to face and follow the sun, such as (archaic) marigolds and sunflowers. Labels: also, countable, figuratively, specifically, uncountable Example: As they entered now, it seemed a blaze of roses and carnations, though one recognised in a moment the presence of the lily, the heliotrope, and the stock. Example: Here's newyearspray, the posquiflor, a windaborne and heliotrope; there miriamsweet and amaranth and marygold to crown. 3. A plant with flowers which turn to face and follow the sun, such as (archaic) marigolds and sunflowers. Labels: also, countable, figuratively, uncountable 4. The fragrance of Heliotropium arborescens flowers, or a scent resembling this fragrance. Labels: uncountable Example: He had lost his affable smile, and wore a look of almost military resolution; […] he had always smelt so much more of heliotrope than of gunpowder. Example: Ransacking the drawers of the dresser he came upon a discarded, tiny, ragged handkerchief. He pressed it to his face. It was racy and insolent with heliotrope; he hurled it to the floor. 5. A light purple or violet colour like that of Heliotropium arborescens flowers. Labels: uncountable Example: Kit woke to see looming over him the face of Dr. Willi Dingkopf, framed by a haircut in violation of more than one law of physics, and a vivid necktie in fuchsia, heliotrope, and duck green, a gift from one of the patients, […] 6. 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). Labels: countable 7. An ancient type of sundial consisting of a bowl with a perpendicular gnomon mounted in the centre. Labels: countable, historical 8. Synonym of bloodstone (“a green chalcedony that is sprinkled with red spots or veins of hematite”). Labels: countable, uncountable Example: The pretious ſtone Heliotropium, is found in Æthiopia, Affricke, and Cyprus: the ground thereof is a deepe greene in manner of a leeke, but the ſame is garniſhed vvith veins of bloud: the reaſon of the name Heliotropium is this, For that if it be throvvne into a paile of vvater, it chaungeth the raies of the Sun by vvay of reverberation into a bloudie colour, eſpecially that vvhich commeth out of Æthiopia: the ſame beeing vvithout the vvater, doth repreſent the bodie of the Sun, like unto a mirroir:[…] Example: Amid this dread exuberance of woe / Ran naked spirits wing'd with horrid fear, / Nor hope had they of crevice where to hide, / Or heliotrope to charm them out of view.