WOAD • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Woad

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noun

Woad n. (Written also wad, and wade)

(Bot.) An herbaceous cruciferous plant (Isatis tinctoria) of the family Cruciferae (syn. Brassicaceae). It was formerly cultivated for the blue coloring matter derived from its leaves. See isatin.

A blue dyestuff, or coloring matter, consisting of the powdered and fermented leaves of the Isatis tinctoria. It is now superseded by indigo, but is somewhat used with indigo as a ferment in dyeing. "Their bodies... painted with woad in sundry figures."

Wild woad (Bot.), the weld (Reseda luteola). See Weld.

Woad mill, a mill grinding and preparing woad.

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Etymology of 'Woad'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Woad" Quotes from Famous Books

... ship-building was also a matter of government encouragement. In 1485 a law was passed declaring that wines of the duchies of Guienne and Gascony should be imported only in vessels which were English property and manned for the most part by Englishmen. In 1489 woad, a dyestuff from southern France, was included, and it was ordered that merchandise to be exported from England or imported into England should never be shipped in foreign vessels if sufficient English vessels were in the harbor at the time. Although this ...

— An Introduction to the Industrial and Social History of England • Edward Potts Cheyney

... shaw," said he. "But, by gad, fancy losing poo-aw Eddie! What have you done with him? Dwiven a stake through him and buwied him at a cwoss woad?" ...

— Cynthia's Chauffeur • Louis Tracy

Words linked to "Woad" : genus Isatis, Isatis tinctoria, Isatis, herbaceous plant, herb, dye, dyer's woad