water lilyn.
/ˈwɔːtə ˌlɪli/, U.S. /ˈwɔdər ˌlɪli/, /ˈwɑdər ˌlɪli/ 1. Any of various aquatic plants constituting the family Nymphaeaceae, having large, rounded floating leaves and showy emergent flowers; esp. the widespread Nymphaea alba (more fully white water lily) and Nuphar lutea (more fully yellow water lily). Cf. lotus n. 1a.
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the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular cultivated or ornamental plants > particular flower or plant esteemed for flower > [noun] > water-lilies
edockec1000
water rose?a1300
mead-flower?a1350
water beanc1400
water coltsfoot14..
nenuphar?a1425
water lily?a1425
lotec1487
lotusc1487
nymphaea1543
water-can1622
can-dock1661
lotus flower1710
pond lily1748
Indian lotus1797
padma1799
Nuphar1822
beaver-root1832
splatterdock1832
frog-lily1845
brandy-bottle1846
Victoria1846
water nymph1848
lotus lily1857
cow-lily1862
pool lily1902
?a1425 MS Hunterian 95 f. 196, in Middle Eng. Dict. at Lilie Lilium aquaticum, watir lilie.
a1500 in T. Hunt Plant Names Medieval Eng. (1989) 185 [Nenufar] gallice lelie de ewe, anglice watirlelie.
1538 T. Elyot Dict. Rhopalon, a water lyly, called communely Nenuphar.
c1550 Complaynt Scotl. (1979) vi. 53 I sau the vattir lille quhilk is ane remeid contrar gomoria.
1597 J. Gerard Herball ii. 672 The white water Lillie or Nenuphar, hath great round leaues, in shape of a buckler.
1652 N. Culpeper Eng. Physitian Enlarged 120 The white Water-Lilly hath very large, round and thick dark green leaves.
1788 W. Cowper (title) The dog and the water-lily.
1818 Ld. Byron Childe Harold: Canto IV lxvii. 36 While, chance, some scatter'd water-lily sails Down where the shallower wave still tells its bubbling tales.
1882 Garden 11 Nov. 421/1 There is the giant blue Water Lily of Australia.
1897 H. Tennyson Alfred Ld. Tennyson: Mem. I. xxii. 471 My father..said, ‘The Isle of Wight looked like a water-lily on a blue lake.’
1937 Amer. Home Apr. 146/4 (advt.) This Dwarf Water Lily is the smallest variety known and will grow and bloom indoors.
1967 S. Marshall Fenland Chron. (1998) ii. iv. 195 Then there'd be yellow water lilies and ‘hen-and-chickens’, the pretty pink clusters of flowering rush.
2007 Wall St. Jrnl. 1 Sept. p8/3 Water-lilies floated on a cheerful little hubblebubbling stream.
2. Chiefly regional. Any of various other aquatic or moisture-loving flowering plants, as yellow flag ( Iris pseudacorus), marsh marigold ( Caltha palustris), bog arum ( Calla palustris), and water crowfoot ( Ranunculus aquatilis).In quot. 1864: the New Zealand mountain buttercup, Ranunculus lyallii.
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the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular cultivated or ornamental plants > particular flower or plant esteemed for flower > [noun] > water-lilies > plant resembling
water lily1653
1653 I. Walton Compl. Angler ii. 40 Look down at the bottom of the hil, there in that Meadow, chequered with water Lillies and Lady-smocks. View more context for this quotation
1760 J. Lee Introd. Bot. App. 317 Lily, Lesser Yellow Water, with fringed Flowers, Menyanthes.
1864 J. D. Hooker Handbk. N.Z. Flora (2011) I. 4 R[anunculus] Lyallii... ‘Water Lily’ of the shepherds.
1886 R. Holland Gloss. Words County of Chester Water Lily, the arum lily, Calla palustris.
1893 G. E. Dartnell & E. H. Goddard Gloss. Words Wilts. Water-lily (1) Caltha palustris. (2) Ranunculus aquatilis.
1996 C. I. Macafee Conc. Ulster Dict. 378/2 Water-lily,..(a) the yellow iris Iris pseudacorus; (b) the common water crowfoot Ranunculus aquatilis.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2015; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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n.?a1425