See Also: Gentian(medicine)
gentian(dictionary)
gentian(dictionary)
Gentian violet(medicine)
gentian root(medicine)
gentian family(encyclopedia)
gentian aniline water(medicine)

gentian (iou)



gentian noun & adjective. LME.
[Latin gentiana (sc. herba), named, according to Pliny, after Gentius, king of Illyria: see -IAN.]
A. noun.
Any of numerous plants of the genus Gentiana (family Gentianaceae), with four- or five-lobed corollas freq. of a brilliant deep blue, chiefly growing in damp alpine places; a flower or flowering stem of such a plant. Also, (a flower or stem of) any of a number of similar plants (esp. of the related genus Gentianella). LME.
autumn gentian, willow gentian, etc.
A bitter tonic or (more fully gentian brandy, gentian spirit) liqueur made from gentian root (see below). M19.
Comb.: gentian brandy: see sense 2 above; gentian root the rhizome and root of the yellow-flowered Gentiana lutea of the Alps etc., used in pharmacy; gentian spirit: see sense 2 above; gentian violet a dye used as an antiseptic, esp. in the treatment of burns.
b. adjective. Having the blue colour of the gentian. E20.