Etymology tree
Latin viola
Old French -ette
Old French violettebor.
Middle English violet
English violet
Inherited from Middle English violet, vyolet, vyolette, from Old French violette, from Latin viola (“violet”) + -ette. Cognate with Lithuanian violetinė (“purple, violet”) and Spanish violeta (“purple, violet”).
it viola (having a bluish-purple color) · ru фиоле́товый (having a bluish-purple color) · la ianthinus (having a bluish-purple color) · lo ມ່ວງ (having a bluish-purple color) · ro violet (having a bluish-purple color) · es violeta (having a bluish-purple color) · sv violett (having a bluish-purple color) · tr menekşe renkli (having a bluish-purple color) · ga corcairghorm (having a bluish-purple color) · es violáceo (having a bluish-purple color) · hi बनफ्शई (having a bluish-purple color) · el βιολετής (having a bluish-purple color) · sip རྒྱ་མུག (having a bluish-purple color) · pl fioletowy (having a bluish-purple color) · ca violeta (having a bluish-purple color) · ga sailchuachach (having a bluish-purple color) · fa بنفش (having a bluish-purple color) · nl violet (having a bluish-purple color) · ia violette (having a bluish-purple color) · ps چوڼيا (having a bluish-purple color) · is fjólublár (having a bluish-purple color) · lb mof (having a bluish-purple color) · fi violetti (having a bluish-purple color) · fr violet (having a bluish-purple color) · ang blǣhǣwen (having a bluish-purple color) · no fiolett (having a bluish-purple color) · km ស្វាយ (having a bluish-purple color) · la violaceus (having a bluish-purple color) · oc violet (having a bluish-purple color) · sk fialový (having a bluish-purple color) · pt violeta (having a bluish-purple color) · hu ibolya (having a bluish-purple color) · hy մանուշակագույն (having a bluish-purple color) · th ม่วง (having a bluish-purple color) · eo viola (having a bluish-purple color) · cs fialový (having a bluish-purple color) · be фіяле́тавы (having a bluish-purple color) · bn বেগুনি (having a bluish-purple color) · as বেঙুনীয়া (having a bluish-purple color) · eo violkolora (having a bluish-purple color) · mi tuapōkere (having a bluish-purple color) · uk фіоле́товий (having a bluish-purple color) · bn বেগুনী (having a bluish-purple color) · fa بنفشهای (having a bluish-purple color) · da violet (having a bluish-purple color) · bg виоле́тов (having a bluish-purple color) · de violett (having a bluish-purple color) · mi tūāpōkere (having a bluish-purple color)
Etymology tree
Latin viola
Old French -ette
Old French violettebor.
Middle English violet
English violet
Inherited from Middle English violet, vyolet, vyolette, from Old French violette, from Latin viola (“violet”) + -ette. Cognate with Lithuanian violetinė (“purple, violet”) and Spanish violeta (“purple, violet”).
Meanings
A plant or flower of the genus Viola, especially the fragrant Viola odorata; (inexact) similar-looking plants and flowers.
Albertus Magnus, the thirteenth century philosopher and occultist, states that coriander, valerian, and violet are love producing herbs. 1961, Harry E. Wedeck, Dictionary of Aphrodisiacs, New York: The Citadel Press, page 68:
Refreshed by their cooling bath of evening dew, the violets and other nocturnal flowers emitted a pleasant fragrance over the fields, but from the bogs and the rivulets came up now and then damp, penetrating gusts, that sent an icy chill through me. 1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 160:
(figuratively) A person thought to resemble V. odorata, especially in its beauty and delicacy.
‘Tom,’ he said, ‘you are looking at a crushed violet, a spent egg, a squeezed tube.’ 1991 September, Stephen Fry, chapter 1, in The Liar, London: Heinemann, →ISBN, section I, page 13:
The color of most violets; the colour evoked by the shortest visible wavelengths between 380 and 435 nm, an additive tertiary colour.
Clothes and (ecclesiastical) vestments of such a colour.
(qualifier:perfumes) The characteristic scent of V. odorata.