Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Any of several perennial plants of the genus Sanguisorba of the rose family, some species of which have edible leaves used in salads or sauces.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Brownish.
  • noun Cloth dyed of a brown color.
  • noun The pimpernel, Anagallis arvensis.
  • noun The common name of species of Poterium, an herbaceous genus of the natural order Rosaceæ.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Bot.) A genus of perennial herbs (Poterium); especially, Poterium Sanguisorba, the common, or garden, burnet.
  • noun (Zoöl.) in England, a handsome moth (Zygæna filipendula), with crimson spots on the wings.
  • noun (Bot.) See Saxifrage.
  • noun a marsh plant (Poterium Canadensis).
  • noun Poterium oficinalis (or Sanguisorba oficinalis).

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun An herb used in salads and herbal teas.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English, from Medieval Latin burneta, from Old French brunete, dark brown, diminutive of brun, brown, of Germanic origin; see bher- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Old French brunet and brunete (small brown)

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Examples

  • A small bird called a burnet made friends with him and lived in his cell, ate from his fingers and his trencher, and only left him at the breeding season, after which it brought its fledged family back with it.

    Hugh, Bishop of Lincoln A Short Story of One of the Makers of Mediaeval England 1886

  • VIOLA _palustris_, the STATICE _armeria_, or sea pink, a kind of burnet, the RANUNCULUS _lapponicus_, the HOLCUS _odoratus_, the common celery, with the ARABIS _heterophylla_.

    A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels — Volume 14 Robert Kerr 1784

  • Gatherings of flies on the tall, white plate flowers of hogweed; burnet moths swinging on the yellow, sweetly scented lady's bedstraw; soldier beetles copulating wildly on their grass stems: these creatures were drawn to plants as places, to be inhabited by animal passions.

    Country diary: Wenlock Edge 2011

  • Wet-kneed, we walked by pastures filled with the white froth of meadowsweet and river-bank flora of lady's bedstraw, betony, devil's bit scabious, greater burnet and eyebright, kneeling several times to store memories of the scent of the last of the fragrant orchids.

    Country diary: Forest-in-Teesdale 2011

  • Heavy doses of nitrogen fertiliser will tip the competitive balance in favour of grasses, and soon purple wood crane's bill, blood-red greater burnet, frothy white pignut and meadowsweet, yellow lady's bedstraw, globe flower and blue speedwells will vanish, leaving an "improved" pasture – more productive, more profitable, but oh-so dull.

    Make hay meadow photos while the sun shines | Phil Gates 2011

  • Last week I saw burnet roses in the dunes of Northumberland: low scrubby sticks scythed by North Sea winds blooming with constellations of white flowers.

    Country diary: Wenlock Edge 2011

  • Suddenly, there in the viewfinder, was a six-spot burnet moth on the orchid blossoms.

    Country diary: Ardersier 2011

  • The burnet moths, without the competitive fuss between elite athletes and panting also-rans, just seemed beautifully better at it.

    Country diary 2010

  • The motivation for the burnet moths seemed powerfully erotic.

    Country diary 2010

  • The space below knee-height was full of burnet moths.

    Country diary 2010

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