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Webster 1913 Edition

Columbine

Col′um-bine

,
Adj.
[L.
columbinus
, fr.
columba
dove.]
Of or pertaining to a dove; dovelike; dove-colored.
“Columbine innocency.”
Bacon.

Col′um-bine

,
Noun.
[
LL
.
columbina
, L.
columbinus
dovelike, fr.
columba
dove: cf. F.
colombine
. Perh. so called from the beaklike spurs of its flowers.]
1.
(Bot.)
A plant of several species of the genus
Aquilegia
;
as,
Aquilegia vulgaris
, or the common garden columbine;
Aquilegia Canadensis
, the wild red columbine of North America
.
2.
The mistress or sweetheart of Harlequin in pantomimes.
Brewer.

Webster 1828 Edition

Columbine

COLUMBINE

,
Adj.
Like or pertaining to a pigeon or dove; of a dove-color, or like the neck of a dove.

COLUMBINE

,
Noun.
Aquilegia, a genus of plants of several species. The Thalictrum or meadow-rue is also called feathered columbine.

Definition 2024

columbine

columbine

See also: Columbine

English

Noun

columbine ‎(plural columbines)

  1. Any plant of the genus Aquilegia, having distinctive bell-shaped flowers with spurs on each petal.
Translations

Etymology 2

From Old French columbin (French colombin), from Latin columbinus, from dove, pigeon.

Adjective

columbine ‎(comparative more columbine, superlative most columbine)

  1. (archaic) Pertaining to a dove or pigeon.
    • late 1500s, Geoffrey Chaucer, The Merchant's Tale:
      Com forþ now, wiþ þyne eyen columbyn! / How fairer been þy brestes þan is wyn!
    • Francis Bacon
      Columbine innocency.
Translations

Etymology

From the Latin colombina herba ‎(“dove-like plant”), the flower being likened to five clustered pigeons.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈkɒləmbʌɪn/

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