meadowsweet means A Eurasian perennial flowering plant of Rosaceae family, Filipendula ulmaria.
meadowsweet is pronounced /ˈmɛdəʊswiːt/.
Why “meadowsweet” is a great word
A Eurasian perennial herb or related shrub of the rose family, known for its fragrant, creamy-white flower clusters. The name is a corruption of ‘mead sweet,’ from its historical use in flavoring mead. Unlike 'queen of the meadow,' a poetic folk name, or 'spirea,' a precise botanical genus term, 'meadowsweet' roots itself in practical history while blurring the line between herb and shrub. It is the froth of ivory blossoms along a damp ditch, the honeyed scent clinging to fingers after gathering, and the ghost of sweetness in a long-forgotten cup—a humble plant whose name remembers its purpose long after the ceremony has faded.
Etymology
Corruption of mead sweet, from use in making mead.
noun
- A Eurasian perennial flowering plant of Rosaceae family, Filipendula ulmaria.
- Any plant of the genus Spiraea of the Rosaceae family, native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere and consisting of about 80–100 species of shrubs.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
Words closest in meaning
By meaning, not spelling — each word's AI semantic fingerprint, nearest first.