Eglantine

2 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Eglantine \Eg"lan*tine\, n. [F. ['e]glantine, fr. OF. aiglent
     brier, hip tree, fr. (assumed) LL. acuculentus, fr. a dim. of
     L. acus needle; cf. F. aiguille needle. Cf. {Aglet}.] (Bot.)
     (a) A species of rose ({Rosa Eglanteria}), with fragrant
         foliage and flowers of various colors.
     (b) The sweetbrier ({R. rubiginosa}).


         [1913 Webster]
  
     Note: Milton, in the following lines, has applied the name to
           some twining plant, perhaps the honeysuckle.
           [1913 Webster]
  
                 Through the sweetbrier, or the vine,
                 Or the twisted eglantine.          --L'Allegro,
                                                    47.
           "In our early writers and in Gerarde and the
           herbalists, it was a shrub with white flowers." --Dr.
           Prior.
           [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  eglantine
       n : Eurasian rose with prickly stems and fragrant leaves and
           bright pink flowers followed by scarlet hips [syn: {sweetbrier},
            {sweetbriar}, {brier}, {briar}, {Rosa eglanteria}]