woad
9.9
A blue dye made from the leaves of a plant with yellow flowers
- noun
- /woʊd/
- Archaic
:
morado
- I especially liked the image of pre-stuffy Brits dressed in nothing but woad (purple dye for us colonists).
Examples
-
She demonstrated how to extract woad dye from the leaves to achieve a rich blue hue.
-
- But they paint themselves with woad.
-
When they paint their faces in the blue woad, it is more than just a decoration; it is a sacred rite.
-
The artisans used woad to dye fabrics in a vibrant blue color.
-
In ancient times, warriors would paint themselves with woad before battle for a striking blue appearance.
Synonyms
indigo
vswoad
7
4.7
A deep blue dye used to color cloth, often made from plants or in factories
is specifically from one plant and was used in the past for cloth
9.9
A blue dye from indigo plants or made in factories to color cloth
is the traditional form extracted from a single plant rather than modern production
Compounds
Surface Forms
Etymology
Woad comes from Old English wād, which named the plant that gave a strong 'blue' dye when its leaves were processed. So woad can mean the blue dye itself as well as the plant used to make it.