any of various Old World aromatic shrubs or subshrubs with usually mauve or blue flowers; widely cultivated
<noun.plant>
a pale purple color
<noun.attribute> [ adj ]
of a pale purple color
<adj.all>
Lavender \Lav"en*der\, n. [OE. lavendre, F. lavande, It. lavanda lavender, a washing, fr. L. lavare to wash; cf. It. lsavendola, LL. lavendula. So called because it was used in bathing and washing. See {Lave}. to wash, and cf. {Lavender}.] 1. (Bot.) An aromatic plant of the genus {Lavandula} ({Lavandula vera}), common in the south of Europe. It yields and oil used in medicine and perfumery. The {Spike lavender} ({Lavandula Spica}) yields a coarser oil (oil of spike), used in the arts.
2. The pale, purplish color of lavender flowers, paler and more delicate than lilac.
{Lavender cotton} (Bot.), a low, twiggy, aromatic shrub ({Santolina Cham[ae]cyparissus}) of the Mediterranean region, formerly used as a vermifuge, etc., and still used to keep moths from wardrobes. Also called {ground cypress}.
{Lavender water}, a perfume, toilet water, or shaving lotion containing the essential oil of lavender, and sometimes the essential oil of bergamot, and essence of ambergris.
{Sea lavender}. (Bot.) See {Marsh rosemary}.
{To lay in lavender}. (a) To lay away, as clothing, with sprigs of lavender. (b) To pawn. [Obs.] [1913 Webster +PJC]
The chef even furnished Mr. Monteleone with a piece of lavender cloth to nail down the proper shade.
And until recently, perfumers have imported much of their oak moss and lavender from the former Yugoslavia and many of the resinous fragrances from Somalia.
An 84-year-old woman dressed in lavender and lace nibbled pound cake Monday.
Lacroix simplified a few outfits using solids only - buttercup yellows, lavender, pastels or purple.
But the company's research showed that boys liked black headsets and girls liked lavender, and each sex hated the other's top choice.
Now mountains rose along the coast, as the cape swung into view, with white specks of houses below a smooth pale peak, pale green and lavender in the stormy sun, and black in the storms themselves.
The top 30 floors of the Empire State Building will be lit with lavender lights in honor of Gay Pride Weekend later this month.